Fiqh 2 — Istinja & Wudu الاستنجاء والوضوء

• Meaning: removing impurity from the private parts after urination/defecation. Ruling: wājib (obligatory).
• What may be used: water (primary & best) · any solid, rough material (stones, tissue). Best = stone first, then water. If only one: water is better.

Conditions for using stones (if no water)

1. The material is dry.
2. Used before the impurity dries.
3. Impurity has not spread beyond the exit area.
4. Impurity has not moved to another spot.
5. At least three stones (or wipes); add more if not clean; an odd number is recommended (3, 5, 7).

What must NOT be used

• Anything impure or contaminated (e.g. dung — the Prophet ﷺ called it rijs).
• Edible items (bread, food) or food of the jinn (bones, dung).
• Honoured/respected things — parts of a living animal (liver, leg), and human parts even more so. (Separated pure parts like a ḥalāl animal's hair or tanned skin are allowed.)

• Place: avoid public paths & gathering/shaded resting places; avoid holes/burrows; avoid under fruit-bearing trees; avoid stagnant water.
• Entering/leaving: enter with the left foot first, leave with the right foot first. Say the duʿāʾ before (بسم الله، اللهم إني أعوذ بك من الخبث والخبائث) and after (غفرانك…).
• Direction: do not face or turn the back to the qiblah in the open (or a non-toilet space); allowed in a proper toilet, or behind a cover within ~3 cubits (≈150 cm).
• Behaviour: rely on the left hand to clean (right hand reserved); don't look at the sky, the private parts, or the excretion; makrūh to talk, eat, drink or play; don't relieve oneself together exposing the ʿawrah.

The 6 farḍ (obligatory) acts [5:6]

1. Niyyah (intention) — formed at the start of washing the face.
2. Washing the entire face.
3. Washing the hands including the elbows.
4. Wiping part of the head (even one hair within the head).
5. Washing the feet including the ankles.
6. Tartīb — keeping the correct order.

Sunan (recommended) — the most important of 18

Bismillāh · washing the hands 3× before · siwāk · madmaḍah (rinse mouth) · istinshāq/istinthār (nose) · takhlīl of a thick beard · wiping the whole head · takhlīl between fingers & toes · wiping the ears with fresh water · doing each act 3× (tathlīth) · starting with the right · dalk (rubbing) · muwālāh (continuity) · ghurra & taḥjīl (extending the washed area) · moderation in water · facing the qiblah · silence · the shahādah & duʿāʾ after.

The 5 nullifiers

1. Anything exiting the front or back passage (urine, stool, blood, wind).
2. Sleep while not firmly seated (firm seating = buttocks resting fully; firm-seated sleep does NOT break it).
3. Loss of consciousness — intoxication, fainting, illness, insanity.
4. A man touching his wife or any non-maḥram woman skin-to-skin (Shāfiʿī — see below).
5. Touching the private parts (own or another's, front or back) with the inside of the hand, no barrier.

A classic madhhab disagreement built on «أو لامستم النساء» (al-Māʾidah 5:6) — does "touched women" mean skin contact or intercourse?

• Shāfiʿī: touching the bare skin of the wife (or any non-maḥram woman) invalidates wudū, even without desire. Conditions (Bujayrimī): male+female, skin-to-skin (not through hair/nails/teeth), no barrier, both of an age of desire, not maḥram.
• Ḥanafī: touching never invalidates — wife or not, with or without desire (the Prophet ﷺ touched ʿĀʾishah without renewing wudū).
• Mālikī & Ḥanbalī (middle view): touching with desire invalidates; without desire it does not.