Next, note that we have been granted a three-way choice—either to wash away the blood, to perform wudu, or to take a full ghusl—because the word tatathhur (purification) in the verse may refer to any of these three acts. Ibn Hazm writes: “Wudu is indisputably a purification; washing the private part with water is likewise a purification; and washing the entire body is a purification. Whichever of these a woman who has become pure from menstruation adopts, we are then permitted to approach her. Allah is the One who grants success.” The Qur’anic usage of tatathhur in the second sense—washing the private part with water—appears in His words: “Lamasjidun ussisa ala al-taqwa min awwali yawmin ahaqqu an taquma fihi; fihi rijalun yuhibbuna an yatatahharu wallahu yuhibbu al-mutatahhirin” (A mosque founded upon piety from the very first day is worthier that you stand therein; in it are men who love to purify themselves, and Allah loves those who purify themselves, 9:108). The phrase “those who purify themselves” here refers to people who cleanse themselves after defecation. It is soundly reported that when this verse was revealed the Prophet said to the people of Quba: “Allah has praised you for the purification connected with your mosque; what is this purification that you practise?” They replied, “By Allah, O Messenger of Allah, we know of nothing save that we had Jewish neighbours who washed their back-sides after relieving themselves, so we washed as they did.” He said, “That is it; keep to it.”* * Declared authentic by al-Hakim and al-Dhahabi; I have traced its chains and discussed them under “The Virtue of the Prophet’s Mosque” in my book Al-Thamar al-Mustatab fi Fiqh al-Sunnah wa-l-Kitab. The term tatathhur is used in precisely this sense in the hadith of Aishah