Islam is the religion of mercy and compassion towards people, and seeks to make things easy for them. It is also the religion of purity and cleanliness. One of the things that proves this is the fact that Islam makes things easy for people and pays attention to their circumstances. In this hadith, ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I was a man who emitted a great deal of madhiy, which is a thin, white liquid that is usually emitted when desire is provoked, and when playing with one’s wife and kissing her, or looking with desire, or remembering, or after urinating. It usually precedes the omission of maniy (semen) or follows it. According to a report narrated by Abu Dawud, ‘Ali said: I began to do ghusl for it during the winter until I got cracks in the skin of my back. Thus it is clear that the reason why he asked this question was that he was doing ghusl a great deal, which had a harmful effect on his body, because he thought that this came under the heading of janabah. So he asked al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad to ask the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) about the omission of madhiy and what is required of the one who experiences that. ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) only felt too shy to ask the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) because he was the husband of Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). This was a praiseworthy kind of shyness, because it did not prevent him from learning what he did not know and sending someone to ask in his stead. So al-Miqdad (may Allah be pleased with him) asked the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) about that, and he told him, “Do wudu’ for it.” Therefore the one who emits madhiy must do wudu’ only, not ghusl. In al-Sahihayn it is narrated that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) instructed him to wash his penis in addition to doing wudu’. This hadith highlights good conduct with one’s in-laws, and that the husband should not mention anything having to do with intercourse and intimacy with women in the presence of his wife’s father, brother, son and other relatives. It also highlights the keenness of the Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them) to find out about issues of purification (taharah) and other Islamic rulings. .