“There is no harm in it.”
It has two chains of transmission, both of which we have set out in al-Taʿlīq al-Raghīb.
The second ḥadith is authentic, agreed upon, and has already been cited.
In this chapter there are also further ḥadiths on istinjāʾ (washing the private parts after relieving oneself).
It may be said that the first ḥadith applies specifically to urine and the second to women’s blood. Yet it is obvious that drawing an analogy to all other impurities is valid, for they share the same underlying cause—namely, impurity itself. Accordingly, one must keep clear of every impurity and wash it off whenever it touches the body.
Al-Khaṭṭābī said—as related in Fatḥ al-Bārī—“All impurities stand on the same footing as blood; there is, by unanimous agreement, no distinction between them.”
2 – For this reason one must also cleanse one’s clothes of every impurity, for Allah says, “And purify your garments” (Q 74:4).
That is, wash them with water.
Ibn Zayd remarked, “The polytheists did not purify themselves, so Allah commanded him to purify himself and to cleanse his garments.”
Other interpretations of the verse have been mentioned by Ibn Kathīr and others, yet the view just cited is the clearest. It is the opinion preferred by al-Nawawī in al-Majmūʿ, following al-Bayhaqī, and it was likewise adopted by Ibn Jarīr and by Ibn Ḥazm in al-Muḥallā, who said: