In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful.

1 – The Book of Purification

Allah the Exalted says: “O you who believe, when you rise for prayer, wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows, wipe your heads, and wash your feet up to the ankles” (Qur’an 5:6).

The obligatory acts of purification are:
• washing the three limbs (face, hands, and feet) and wiping the head—the elbows and ankles are included in the area to be washed;
• the minimum required in wiping the head is the extent of the forelock, as related by al-Mughira ibn Shuʿba: “The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—came to a refuse heap, relieved himself, performed ablution, and wiped over the front of his head and his leather socks.”

The recommended (sunna) practices of purification are:
• washing the hands before dipping them into the water when one wakes from sleep;
• pronouncing the Name of Allah at the start of the ablution;
• using the tooth-stick, rinsing the mouth, drawing water into the nose, wiping the ears, combing through the beard and the fingers, and repeating each wash up to three times.

It is also recommended for the person performing ablution to intend purification, to wipe the entire head, and to keep the prescribed order—beginning with what Allah mentioned first and with the right-hand side.

Acts that nullify ablution:
• anything that exits from the two private passages;
• blood, pus, or discharge when it leaves the body and reaches a place that requires washing;
• vomit that fills the mouth;
• sleep while lying down, reclining, or leaning on something such that, were it removed, one would fall;
• and any loss of consciousness through fainting.