The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Whoever performs ablution in the same way I have just done, then prays two rakʿahs (units of prayer) without letting his mind wander, Allah will forgive him all his previous sins.” How easy—praise be to Allah—that a person can perform this deed and have whatever sins he committed earlier erased. From this the scholars have concluded that it is recommended for anyone who completes his ablution thoroughly to pray two rakʿahs, known as the sunnah of ablution. One may offer them morning or evening, by night or by day, even after Fajr or after ʿAsr, because they are tied to a specific cause. Thus, when a person makes ablution in the manner of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and then prays two rakʿahs, his past sins are forgiven.

The hadith goes on to say: “His walk to the mosque and his prayer will count for him as nafila.” In other words, they represent an additional reward over and above the forgiveness of sins; it does not mean that the prayer itself must be voluntary. The prayer could well be obligatory, yet it is described as nafila—an extra gain—because his sins have already been wiped away by his ablution and his first prayer. His walk to the mosque and the prayer that follows—even if it is the prescribed prayer—become nafila, a surplus reward beyond the remission of sins. Linguistically, nafl denotes increase, as in Allah’s statement: “And during a portion of the night, rise for prayer as a voluntary (nafila) act for you” (Q 17:79).

The author (may Allah have mercy on him) then cites the hadith of Abū Hurayrah, which states that through ablution sins are washed away: when you wash your face, the sins committed by your face depart with the water or with the last drop of water—the narrator was uncertain; in any case