Muwatta Imam Malik، الحديث 3

This hadith closely parallels a similar narration found earlier in Imam Malik's chapter on purity, but transmitted here through an entirely separate chain, running through Ibn Shihab az-Zuhri and Abu Idris al-Khawlani rather than through Abu az-Zinad and al-A'raj, underscoring that this instruction reached Imam Malik through more than one independent line of transmission from Abu Hurairah, reinforcing its reliability. The hadith combines two related purification instructions: istinthar, forcefully expelling water from the nose after drawing it in during wudu, and istijmar, the practice of cleaning oneself with stones after using the toilet, done using an odd number.

The emphasis on istinthar as an active, deliberate expulsion, not simply drawing water in, reflects the Islamic principle that ritual cleaning acts should be performed thoroughly and completely rather than symbolically. The odd-number requirement for istijmar reflects a broader pattern found across many areas of Islamic worship and practice, where odd numbers are frequently preferred, as seen in the number of units in witr prayer, and scholars generally explain the odd-number instruction practically: it typically requires a minimum of three wipes to ensure genuine cleaning rather than a superficial touch, with the requirement functioning as a built-in safeguard against inadequate cleaning.

Imam Malik compiled the Muwatta in Madinah during the second Islamic century as a record of the living legal practice of the city where the Prophet ﷺ himself lived and taught, drawing on hadith transmitted through Madinan scholars alongside the practical consensus (amal) of the Madinan community. The presence of this hadith through a second, independent chain in the same chapter reflects how Imam Malik, in his careful methodology, often recorded multiple corroborating routes for practically important rulings concerning the basic mechanics of daily worship.

Classical Maliki jurists, building on this and the related hadith found earlier in the same chapter of the Muwatta, generally hold that thoroughly clearing the nose (istinthar) during wudu is a strongly recommended (sunnah mu'akkadah) act rather than an absolutely obligatory one, a position broadly shared across the Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanafi schools, while the Hanbali school holds it to be obligatory specifically within ghusl, the full ritual bath, though still recommended in ordinary wudu; commentators such as al-Baji in al-Muntaqa Sharh al-Muwatta discuss how the presence of two independent chains for essentially the same ruling in Malik's collection strengthens the evidentiary basis scholars draw upon in these discussions.

Commentators also note that Imam Malik's inclusion of parallel narrations transmitted through different chains, both reaching back to Abu Hurairah, reflects his broader methodological practice of recording multiple attestations for rulings he considered practically significant to the daily religious life of the Madinan community, a pattern later scholars point to when discussing the overall reliability and internal consistency of the Muwatta as a legal source.

The direct application here mirrors the earlier related hadith in this same chapter: when performing wudu, take the extra moment to draw water fully into the nostrils and expel it forcefully, rather than a quick, superficial gesture near the nose, since the purpose is genuine cleaning rather than ritual formality. This is especially worth remembering for those who tend to rush through wudu quickly before work, school, or other obligations.

For matters of post-toilet hygiene, this hadith's underlying principle, thoroughness over minimal effort, remains relevant even where modern plumbing has made water-based cleaning (istinja) more common and generally preferred by contemporary scholars over stone-based cleaning where water is available: whether using water, tissue, or another clean material, the goal should be genuine cleanliness, and where dry materials are used, following the odd-number guidance remains a living sunnah many Muslims continue to observe today.

This hadith, preserved here through yet another independent line back to Abu Hurairah, reveals the consistency of the Prophet's ﷺ teaching: he repeated this same guidance on separate occasions to different listeners, showing a patient, deliberate commitment to ensuring this small but important detail of purification was firmly and thoroughly conveyed to his community.

Abu Hurairah, as one of the most dedicated students of the Prophet's ﷺ teaching and among the largest single sources of preserved hadith, contributed extensively to precisely this category of practical, everyday legal guidance, since his close and constant presence with the Prophet ﷺ gave him detailed knowledge of ordinary ritual practice that many other Companions, occupied with family, trade, or military duties, had less regular opportunity to observe and transmit in such careful detail.

I have been asked this same instruction so many times by different students over the years that I sometimes forget how many separate occasions I actually heard it repeated, from the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, himself. Some remember it one way, some another, but the heart of it never changes: draw the water fully into the nose and expel it properly, do not merely touch water to your face and call it purification.

I have come to see this small repetition across so many of my own students' memories as a kind of gift, proof that what he taught us was never left to chance or a single fading memory, but planted firmly enough in all of us that no single loss could ever uproot it. (Creative narrative based on authentic hadith)

You are teaching wudu to a new Muslim who mentions they find the nose-rinsing step unpleasant and have been quietly skipping it, assuming it is a minor optional detail rather than something the Prophet ﷺ repeated on multiple occasions to different Companions. How would you explain, gently and without judgment, why this particular step carries the weight it does, while helping them find a way to perform it more comfortably?