to me; for 'Aishah said: "Command your husbands to follow the stones with water from the traces of feces and urine, for I am too shy to tell them [that], [and] the Prophet -may Allah bless him and grant him peace- used to do it." Ahmad used this as evidence, and Sa'id narrated it. This is because the stone removes the substance of the impurity so that his hand does not touch it, then he follows it with water to cleanse the area, which makes it more thorough in cleaning and better.

37 - Issue: He said: "If they [the impurities] do not spread beyond their point of exit, three stones are sufficient for him if he cleanses [the area] with them. If he cleanses with less than three, it is not sufficient for him until he completes the number, and if he does not cleanse with three, he adds [more] until he cleanses [it]."

His saying: "they do not spread beyond their point of exit" means the two substances exiting from the two passages, if they do not exceed their point of exit. It is said: "'adaka al-sharru" (evil has passed you by), meaning it exceeded you. The intended meaning, and Allah knows best, is if it does not exceed the exit point in a way that is not customary, for a small amount cannot be avoided and is customary. When it is like this, three cleansing stones are sufficient for him. The meaning of "inqa'" (cleansing) is the removal of the substance of the impurity and its wetness, such that the stone comes away clean with no trace on it except for a negligible amount. Both matters are required: cleansing and completing the three [stones]. Whichever is found without the other is not sufficient. This is the school of al-Shafi'i and a group. Malik and Dawud said: The obligatory [requirement] is cleansing without the number [of stones], based on his saying -may Allah bless him and grant him peace-: "Whoever performs istijmar, let him use an odd number; whoever does so, he has done well, and whoever does not, there is no harm." Our [counter] argument is the statement of Salman: "He -meaning the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace- forbade us from performing istinja' with fewer than three stones." And the hadiths we have mentioned, and we have responded to their hadith previously.

Section: If he increases [the stones] beyond three, it is recommended not to finish except on an odd number, due to his saying -may Allah bless him and grant him peace-: "Whoever performs istijmar, let him use an odd number." Narrated by both, so he may perform istijmar with five, seven, nine, or more than that. If he limits himself to an even number that cleanses [the area] when it is more than three, it is permissible, due to his saying -may Allah bless him and grant him peace-: "...and whoever does not, there is no harm."