that the second part is supported in the sunnah by evidence indicating its permissibility: the Prophet ﷺ bathed with the leftover water of Maymunah (1). Yet no evidence has been reported in the first part indicating that a woman may bathe with a man’s leftover water. This is a second oddity.

His statement, “the ritual impurity of a man,” indicates that if this man wished to remove impurity from his body or garment with it, it would be purified. The same applies if he washed his hands after rising from a night’s sleep, because that is not ritual impurity. It also indicates that if one woman purified herself with it after another woman, that is permissible, due to his statement, “the ritual impurity of a man.”

His statement, “a small quantity,” indicates that if it were a large quantity, it would lift his ritual impurity. The evidence is that one wording of the hadith of Maymunah states, “in a large bowl” (2), and a large bowl is a small quantity.

His statement, “she used it privately,” according to the school, means that she used it out of the sight of a discerning person. If a discerning person saw her, the privacy would no longer apply, and it would lift the man’s ritual impurity (3).

It was also said that “she used it privately” means that she alone used it—in other words, she performed ablution with it (4), and no one besides her performed ablution with it. This is closer to the hadith, because its apparent meaning is general, and the Prophet ﷺ did not stipulate that she be alone with it.

His statement, “for a complete purification,” indicates that if she used it privately during the purification—at its beginning, middle, or end—such that someone saw her at the beginning of her purification and then left, or someone came before she completed her purification, then it would lift his ritual impurity, because she had not used it privately for a complete purification.