Lessons drawn from the ḥadīth:
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The four “limbs” here are the woman’s two arms and two legs. For the man to sit between them during intercourse is considered the most dignified posture, though other positions are permissible provided the penetration remains in the place of cultivation—that is, the front passage.
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The very act of penetration—so that the glans is completely inserted—makes ghusl (the ritual bath) obligatory even if no ejaculation occurs.
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The “effort” (jahd) intended here is the exertion produced by his movement during penetration, clarified by the report of Abū Dāwūd (216): “He placed the circumcised part against the circumcised part and then exerted himself.”
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The explicit wording (manṭūq) of this ḥadīth abrogates the implied meaning of the earlier report of Abū Saʿīd. The evidence for abrogation is the narration recorded by Imām Aḥmad (5/116) from Ubayy ibn Kaʿb: “They used to say, ‘al-māʾu mina al-māʾ (water is only from water),’ a concession the Messenger of Allah ﷺ allowed at the beginning of Islam; later he commanded the ritual bath after intercourse.” Ibn Khuzaymah and Ibn Ḥibbān declared it authentic, and al-Ismāʿīlī said it meets al-Bukhārī’s criteria. This wording is an explicit statement of abrogation, further confirmed by the divine verse: “And if you are in a state of major ritual impurity, then purify yourselves” (al-Māʾidah 5:6).
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The phrase “then ghusl becomes obligatory” indicates that performing the bath need not be immediate—an interpretation upon which the scholars unanimously agree.