Hadithcore
Sahih Muslim, 227a
sahih

Humran. the freed slave of 'Uthman. said:

I heard from 'Uthman b. 'Affan and he was in the courtyard of the mosque, when the Mu'adhdhin (announcer of the prayer) came to him at the time of afternoon prayer. So the ('Uthman) called for the ablution water and performed ablution and then said: By Allah, I am narrating to you a hadith. If there were not a verse in the Book of Allah, I would have never narrated it to you. I heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) say: If a Muslim performs ablution and does it well and offers prayer, all his (sins) daring the period from one prayer to another would be pardoned by Allah.

حَدَّثَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، وَعُثْمَانُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، وَإِسْحَاقُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ الْحَنْظَلِيُّ، - وَاللَّفْظُ لِقُتَيْبَةَ - قَالَ إِسْحَاقُ أَخْبَرَنَا وَقَالَ الآخَرَانِ، حَدَّثَنَا جَرِيرٌ، عَنْ هِشَامِ بْنِ عُرْوَةَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ حُمْرَانَ، مَوْلَى عُثْمَانَ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ عُثْمَانَ بْنَ عَفَّانَ، وَهُوَ بِفِنَاءِ الْمَسْجِدِ فَجَاءَهُ الْمُؤَذِّنُ عِنْدَ الْعَصْرِ فَدَعَا بِوَضُوءٍ فَتَوَضَّأَ ثُمَّ قَالَ وَاللَّهِ لأُحَدِّثَنَّكُمْ حَدِيثًا لَوْلاَ آيَةٌ فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ مَا حَدَّثْتُكُمْ إِنِّي سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ ‏

‏ لاَ يَتَوَضَّأُ رَجُلٌ مُسْلِمٌ فَيُحْسِنُ الْوُضُوءَ فَيُصَلِّي صَلاَةً إِلاَّ غَفَرَ اللَّهُ لَهُ مَا بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ الصَّلاَةِ الَّتِي تَلِيهَا ‏

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References2 variants
In-Book Reference
Book 2, Hadith 7
USC-MSA web (English) reference
Book 2, Hadith 438 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
The Prophet's Companions used to teach and convey Prophetic clear guidance to people. In this hadith, Human, the servant of Caliph Uthman ibn Affan, narrated, “I heard Uthman - when he was in the courtyard of the mosque and asked for water to perform ablution after the caller to (afternoon) prayer came to him - said, 'By Allah, I am narrating to you a hadith. If there had not been a verse in the Book of Allah, I would have never narrated it to you.’” The verse he meant was Allah’s saying, "Verily, those who conceal the clear proofs and the guidance, which We have sent down, after We have made it clear for the people in the Book, they are the ones cursed by Allah and cursed by the cursers." (Al-Baqarah: 159) It means that Allah will expel them from His mercy and people ask Him to expel them from His mercy as well. It was only this verse that encouraged Uthman to narrate this Prophetic hadith although he preferred not to narrate it temporarily, for he was afraid that people may have been deceived by their little obedience to Allah. In the end, he decided to narrate it and confirmed that he heard the Prophet saying, “If a Muslim properly performs ablution and offers prayer, Allah will forgive him the sins committed to the next prayer." The prayer mentioned here is the obligatory one and the sins mentioned here are the minor, for repentance is a prerequisite to forgive the major sins. Finally, this hadith contains the following benefits: (1) Caliph Uthman was keen to teach people goodness, (2) It warns against concealing Islamic knowledge, (3) It urges people to learn and properly abide by ablution's etiquette and conditions, (4) It stressed on the virtue of properly performing ablution, and (5) The legitimacy of swearing without being asked to swear..
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