and enjoying its comforts without any need to do so or using it to help one obey Allah. Visiting a bathhouse may be obligatory when one needs to perform an obligatory purification that is possible only there. It may be recommended when a recommended act of purification or another recommended practice can only be performed there, such as recommended ritual baths or removing dirt from the body. Indeed, keeping the body clean of dirt is recommended.

Al-Tirmidhī narrated that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Allah is clean and loves cleanliness.”

It is also authentically reported in the Sahīh that ʿĀ’ishah said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Ten practices belong to the natural disposition: trimming the moustache, letting the beard grow, using the tooth-stick, drawing water into the nose, clipping the nails, washing the finger joints, plucking the underarm hair, shaving the pubic hair, and using water for cleansing.” Musʿab said: “I have forgotten the tenth, unless it was rinsing the mouth.”

Wakīʿ said: “Using water for cleansing means washing oneself after relieving oneself.”

ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Among the practices of the natural disposition—or he said, ‘The practices of the natural disposition are’—are rinsing the mouth, drawing water into the nose, trimming the moustache, using the tooth-stick, clipping the nails, washing the finger joints, plucking the underarm hair, shaving the pubic hair, circumcision, and sprinkling oneself with water.”

Narrated by Imam Ahmad, whose wording this is, and by Abū Dāwūd and Ibn Mājah.