that water. He said: I asked Aḥmad about sprinkling water on the khuff (leather sock) if the man did not perform istijmār? He said: It is more beloved to me that he washes it three times. This is the opinion of Ibn Ḥāmid. The apparent meaning of the later scholars among our companions is that it is impure, and this is the opinion of al-Shāfiʿī and Abū Ḥanīfa. If the one performing istijmār were to sit in a small amount of water, he would make it impure, and if he were to sweat, his sweat would be impure, because it is a wiping of impurity, so the place of it is not purified by it, like other types of wiping. The argument for the first [position] is the saying of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace): Do not perform istinjāʾ with dung or bone, for they do not purify. The implication is that other than them does purify. Also, the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) predominantly performed istijmār, to the extent that a group of them disapproved of istinjāʾ with water, and some of them called it an innovation, and their lands were hot. It is apparent that they were not free from sweat, yet it was not reported that they avoided that, nor took precautions against it, nor was there any mention of that at all. It has been narrated from Ibn ʿUmar that he urinated in Muzdalifa, then inserted his hand and sprinkled his private part from beneath his clothes, and something similar was narrated from Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī. Were it not that they believed in its purity, they would not have done that. Section: If one performs istinjāʾ with water, he does not need soil. Aḥmad said: Water alone suffices for him. It has not been narrated from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) that he used soil with water in istinjāʾ, nor did he command it. As for the number of washings, there is a difference of opinion regarding Aḥmad on this. He said, in the narration of his son Ṣāliḥ: The minimum that suffices him of water is seven times. He said, in the narration of Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥakam: But for the buttocks, it suffices to wipe them with three stones or wash them three times, and it does not suffice in my view if it is on the body to wash it three times, and that is due to what ʿĀʾisha narrated, that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) used to wash his buttocks three times. Narrated by Ibn Mājah. Abū Dāwūd said: Aḥmad was asked about the limit of istinjāʾ with water? He said: It is to purify. The apparent meaning of this is that there is no number for it; rather, the obligation is purification. This is more correct, because it is authentic from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) in that regard, yet he did not command a number, and purification is necessary according to all the narrations, which is that the slipperiness of the impurity and its traces depart.