Hadith Research Libraryمكتبة الحديث والرجال
Sahih Muslim, 308
sahih

Hadith text · Matn

‏ إِذَا أَتَى أَحَدُكُمْ أَهْلَهُ ثُمَّ أَرَادَ أَنْ يَعُودَ فَلْيَتَوَضَّأْ ‏

‏ ‏.‏ زَادَ أَبُو بَكْرٍ فِي حَدِيثِهِ بَيْنَهُمَا وُضُوءًا وَقَالَ ثُمَّ أَرَادَ أَنْ يُعَاوِدَ ‏.‏

English translation

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reported:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: When anyone amongst you has sexual intercourse with his wife and then he intends to repeat it, he should perform ablution. In the hadith transmitted by Abu Bakr. (the words are):" Between the two (acts) there should be an ablution," or he (the narrator) said:" Then he intended that it should be repeated."

Original Arabic chain wording

وَحَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا حَفْصُ بْنُ غِيَاثٍ، ح وَحَدَّثَنَا أَبُو كُرَيْبٍ، أَخْبَرَنَا ابْنُ أَبِي زَائِدَةَ، ح وَحَدَّثَنِي عَمْرٌو النَّاقِدُ، وَابْنُ، نُمَيْرٍ قَالاَ حَدَّثَنَا مَرْوَانُ بْنُ مُعَاوِيَةَ الْفَزَارِيُّ، كُلُّهُمْ عَنْ عَاصِمٍ، عَنْ أَبِي الْمُتَوَكِّلِ، عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏

References2 variants
In-Book Reference
Book 3, Hadith 29
USC-MSA web (English) reference
Book 3, Hadith 605 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
The Prophet (ﷺ) taught his nation the related matters to intercourse such as its permissible and prohibited acts and how to purify oneself afterward. In this hadith, he guided a husband who had intercourse with his wife to perform ablution if he wanted to do it again before bathing. It was reported in Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah that Abu Saeed Al-Khudry narrated that ablution activated a person to have intercourse once again. Moreover, ablution reduces impurities by cleaning one's penis, which has some benefits: (1) From a medical perspective, it strengthens one's penis, (2) It enables the body to relieve before coming back again, and (3) It completes the pleasure by removing the couple's sperm attached to one’s penis, which may reduce pleasure. It was said that the mentioned ablution referred to only washing a man's penis as exaggerating cleanliness, for it was reported in Sunan Abu Daoud that Aisha (ﷺ) said, “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to sleep after having intercourse without touching water.” Some said that her saying, “without touching water” meant bathing which did not contradict ablution. It is possible that the Prophet’s command to perform ablution is, as mentioned, with the aim of seeking cleanliness and activity, for what was reported in Sahih Muslim that Aisha narrated, "The Prophet (ﷺ) used to have intercourse with his wives (one after another) with a single bathing." She did not mention that he performed ablution. Finally, this hadith contains the following benefits: (1) It is legitimate to perform ablution between two intercourses, whether it is with the same woman or another one, (2) It is not obligatory to perform bathing immediately after intercourse. It is obligatory when wanting to perform acts of worship like prayer which necessitates bathing, and (3) The legitimacy of frequent intercourse..
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