The jurists, may Allah have mercy on them, differentiated between eating, drinking, and sleeping. They said: It is disliked for a person in a state of major ritual impurity to sleep without performing wudu, but it is not disliked for him to eat or drink without wudu. (1)
His statement, “and resuming intercourse,” means that it is recommended for a person in a state of major ritual impurity to perform wudu if he wishes to have intercourse again. The evidence for this is what is established in Sahih Muslim: the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, instructed one who has had intercourse with his wife and then wishes to resume to perform wudu between the two occasions. (2)
The basic presumption regarding a command is that it denotes obligation. However, what removes this command from indicating obligation is the report narrated by al-Hakim: “…for it gives one greater vigor to resume.” (3)
This shows that the wudu is not an act of worship such that we oblige people to perform it; rather, it serves to invigorate one. Thus, the command here is for guidance, not for obligation.
He, peace and blessings be upon him, would visit all his wives after a single ritual bath. (4) Even if he visited them all with one ritual bath, this does not preclude his having performed wudu between the two acts