891 – Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “The Prophet ﷺ used to go around to his wives after a single ghusl.” Collected by al-Bukhārī and Muslim; the wording is Muslim’s. (1)
Vocabulary of the hadith
• “go around to his wives” (yaṭūfu ʿalā nisāʾihi): The verb ṭāfa yaṭūfu ṭawfan means “to visit briefly.” Here it is a euphemism for having intercourse with them after one ritual bath, and it points to the perfection of his manhood ﷺ.
Lessons derived from the hadith
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Performing ghusl after major ritual impurity (janābah) is a legislated form of purification and a commendable act of cleanliness. Allah the Exalted says, “And if you are in a state of janābah, then purify yourselves” (al-Māʾidah 5:6). Medical benefits also lie in the bath: once the semen—an extract of the body and the essence of its vitality—has been emitted, a degree of fatigue and lassitude sets in, together with a slowing of the blood’s movement and circulation.
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Out of mercy, the All-Knowing, the All-Aware prescribed the ghusl after janābah, which restores the body’s strength, vitality, and vigor. How many wisdoms and secrets reside in Allah’s law!
The Prophet ﷺ indicated this meaning in the report recorded by Muslim from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī: “When one of you has been with his spouse and then wishes to return, let him perform wudūʾ between the two acts.” Al-Ḥākim added: “for that is more energizing for the return.”
- Apportioning the nights equally between two or more wives is obligatory, and inclining toward one of them is forbidden. In the Four Sunan collections it is narrated from Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever…"