Wash Your Hands on Waking Before Using Water
A hand-hygiene instruction with an explicitly stated reason — you do not know what your hands have touched — given roughly twelve centuries before germ theory.
Sahih al-Bukhari 162
View this hadith on Sunnah.comHadith
Narrated Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him):
“When one of you wakes from sleep, let him wash his hand before putting it into his water for ablution, for none of you knows where his hand spent the night.”
وَإِذَا اسْتَيْقَظَ أَحَدُكُمْ مِنْ نَوْمِهِ فَلْيَغْسِلْ يَدَهُ قَبْلَ أَنْ يُدْخِلَهَا فِي وَضُوئِهِ، فَإِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ لاَ يَدْرِي أَيْنَ بَاتَتْ يَدُهُReference
Ranking
Sahih — recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim. See grading on Sunnah.com
