51 – Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to perform wuḍūʾ with a mudd and would bathe with a sāʿ, up to five amdād.” Agreed upon. (1)

Vocabulary of the ḥadith
• sāʿ: a well-known measure; here it refers to the Prophetic sāʿ, whose weight equals 480 mithqāl of fine barley, approximately 3 litres.
• mudd (with a ḍamma on the mīm): a well-known measure that is one quarter of the Prophetic sāʿ; its plurals are amdād and mudud. Its volume is about 750 ml.

Points derived from the ḥadith

1. The Prophet’s ﷺ practice exemplified moderation in all matters, even when the item in question—such as water—was plentiful and readily available. This guides people to avoid wastefulness.
2. He performed wuḍūʾ with a single mudd. Since a sāʿ equals four amdād, one mudd is a quarter of a sāʿ; in modern measurements that is roughly 625 grams, or about 750 ml.
3. He bathed with a sāʿ up to five amdād—that is, from one sāʿ to one and a quarter sāʿ—despite the abundance of his blessed hair. The Prophetic sāʿ corresponds to roughly 3 litres.
4. The ḥadith underscores the virtue of economizing in the use of water for wuḍūʾ and for other purposes, and that extravagance in water usage is not part of the Prophet’s ﷺ guidance.