menstrual blood gets onto the clothes of menstruating women. It is well known that no one has reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, instructed any Companion to wash semen from his body or clothing. It is therefore known with certainty that this was not obligatory for them. This evidence is decisive for anyone who reflects upon it.

As for ‘Ā’isha, may Allah be pleased with her, sometimes washing it from the Prophet’s clothing, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and sometimes rubbing it off, this does not imply that it is impure. Clothing is also washed to remove mucus, saliva, and dirt. Thus, several Companions, including Sa‘d ibn Abī Waqqās, Ibn ‘Abbās, and others, said: “It is only like mucus and saliva. Remove it from yourself, even with a stalk of idhkhir (fragrant grass).” Whether a man has cleansed himself with water or with stones after relieving himself, his semen is pure.

The view held by some followers of al-Shāfi‘ī and Ahmad—that the semen of someone who has cleansed himself with stones is impure because it comes into contact with the head of the penis—is weak. Most of the Companions used stones to cleanse themselves, and very few used water. Indeed, many of them were unfamiliar with cleansing themselves with water and even objected to it. Nevertheless, the Prophet did not instruct any of them to wash off his semen, or even to rub it off.

Does cleansing with stones purify the area, or merely reduce the impurity? There are two well-known views on this. If