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The obligation to avoid impure substances; if one must handle them, he should do so with the left hand.
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A clarification of the dignity and superiority of the right hand over the left.
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That the right hand be reserved for pleasant matters, for in the two Ṣaḥīḥs it is related: “He liked to begin with the right when putting on his sandals, in his purification, and in all of his affairs.”
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The prohibition of breathing into a vessel, because those who drink after him find it distasteful, and so that nothing from the residue of his mouth or nose falls into the container; the harm may even turn back on the drinker himself.
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Islam’s concern for cleanliness, especially in foods and drinks, whose contamination can harm one’s health.
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The loftiness of Islamic law: it commands everything beneficial and forbids everything harmful. This ḥadith therefore gathers together refined etiquette and sound guidance regarding what nourishes the body and how it expels its impure waste.
Scholarly disagreement:
The scholars have differed: does the prohibition cited in the ḥadith indicate absolute unlawfulness, or merely disapproval?
• The Ẓāhirīs hold that it is unlawful, adhering to the apparent wording of the ḥadith.
• The majority maintain that it is disliked (makrūh), and that the prohibition is one of etiquette and guidance. This is the stronger view, for the Sharia’s commands and prohibitions give rise to scholarly differences: some understand them as obligatory or forbidden, others as recommended or disliked.
The best method for understanding them is to link these individual matters to the broad legal maxims. Among those maxims is that the Sharia came to secure benefits and repel harms, whether those benefits are pure or predominant, just as its prohibitions aim to prevent every corruption, whether pure or predominant.
When we apply the general maxims correctly, the rulings become clear and plain,