Step 7 of 11
Washing the Head, Then the Whole Body
Wet your fingers and run them through the roots of your hair until you feel that the scalp is wet. Then pour water over your head three times, as 'A'ishah described.
Then pour water over the rest of your body, beginning with the right side and then the left. The Prophet ﷺ loved to start with the right in his purification and in all his affairs.
Take care with the places water easily misses: the ears, the navel, the armpits, the folds of the skin, the back of the knees and between the toes. If you left your feet earlier, step aside and wash them now.
All four schools agree on this step.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 248 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 272 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 318Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 168 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 249 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
The positions of the four schools are summarised from their standard references and are pending review by a qualified scholar. Follow the school you were taught, and for your own situation, ask a scholar.
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