The Prophet’s Guidance Pertaining to Purity and Purification

a. His Guidance in Relieving Oneself

When entering the toilet he (peace be upon him) would say:
“O Allah, I seek refuge with you from evil and evil ones."
And upon coming out he (peace be upon him) would say: “I seek Your forgiveness.”

He (peace be upon him) usually urinated while squatting.

He (peace be upon him) sometimes cleaned himself with water, sometimes with stones and sometimes used both.

He (peace be upon him) used his left hand to clean himself.

After cleaning with water, he would rub his hand against the ground.

When travelling, he (peace be upon him) would go far away to relieve himself in order to conceal himself from his companions.

He (peace be upon him) sometimes screened himself behind bushes and sometimes behind palms.

He (peace be upon him) selected the soft parts of the ground for urination.

He (peace be upon him) would not raise his garment until he was down close to the ground.

He (peace be upon him) would not speak or answer greetings while relieving himself.
b. His Guidance in Wudhu' (Ablution)

He (peace be upon him) usually made ablution for every prayer, although he might at times perform many prayers with one ablution.

For ablution, he (peace be upon him) used one measure of water or two thirds of it or sometimes slightly more.

He (peace be upon him) used ablution water with utmost care and warned his followers not to use water excessively.

He (peace be upon him) used to wash his limbs sometimes once, sometimes twice or three times, but never exceeded three times.

He (peace be upon him) sometimes used to rinse out his mouth and nose with one handful of water and sometimes two or three, and he (peace be upon him) would wash his mouth and nose together.

He (peace be upon him) used his right hand for taking in water and his left hand for expelling it.

He (peace be upon him) never made ablution without rinsing his mouth and nose.

He (peace be upon him) used to wipe over all of his head and often move his hands back and forth.

When he (peace be upon him) wiped over his forehead, he completed by including his turban.

He (peace be upon him) wiped the internal and external parts of his ears along with his head.

He (peace be upon him) washed his feet when he was not wearing slippers or socks.

His ablution was in sequence and uninterrupted, and he never did otherwise.

He (peace be upon him) would begin his ablution with "Bismillah" and conclude it by saying:
“I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, without any partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger. O Allah, make me of those who continually repent and of those who continually purify themselves."
He also said: “O Allah, You are worthy of all glory and praise. I bear witness that there is no god but You. I seek Your forgiveness and repent to You.”

Neither he nor any of his companions ever said at the beginning: "I intend to remove impurity to perform prayer."

He (peace be upon him) never washed above the elbows and the ankles.

It was not his custom to dry his limbs.

He (peace be upon him) sometimes rubbed the water into his beard, but not always.

He (peace be upon him) often washed between his toes, but not always.

He (peace be upon him) did not expect someone to pour water for him while making ablution; he usually poured it himself, but sometimes another would help him when needed.

c. His Guidance in Wiping Over Footwear
Authentic narrations state that he (peace be upon him) wiped over his leather footwear while at home and travelling. He specified a limit of one day and night for residents to wipe over them, and three days and nights for travellers.

He (peace be upon him) used to wipe over the upper part of the shoes or stockings. (He also wiped over the turban alone or along with the forehead.)

He (peace be upon him) acted according to the condition of his feet: if he was wearing shoes or stockings he wiped over them, and if his feet were bare he washed them.

d. His Guidance in Tayammum

He (peace be upon him) performed tayammum from the type of ground on which he was praying, be it dust, soil or sand, and said: "Wherever someone of my Ummah may be when prayer is due, he has his mosque and his source of purification."

He (peace be upon him) neither carried sand with him on long journeys nor did he order his companions to do so.

No authentic narration showed that he (peace be upun him) did tayammum for every prayer or ordered that it be done. He simply considered tayammum as a substitute for ablution.

He (peace be upon him) used to perform tayammum by striking the ground once for wiping over both the face and hands.