In His noble statement «‏‏‏‏يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا قُمْتُمْ إِلَى الصَّلَاةِ فَاغْسِلُوا وُجُوهَكُمْ» ‏‏‏‏ [ سورة المائدة ] “O you who believe, when you stand for prayer, wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows, wipe your heads, and wash your feet up to the ankles...”Since Allah Almighty made His Prophet (peace be upon him) the explainer of every specific and general command revealed to him, the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him) clarified through his Sunnah that Allah Almighty did not command every person who prays to perform ablution, but only some people (those whose ablution has been nullified). Just as the Prophet (peace be upon him), while explaining this verse «‏‏‏‏خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً» ‏‏‏‏ [ سورة التوبة ] (Take charity from their wealth), stated that Allah Almighty commanded to take some wealth as charity (zakat), not all of it (i.e., the prescribed amount of zakat). Similarly, the Prophet (peace be upon him) distributed the share of the relatives from the spoils of war among Banu Hashim and Banu Abdul Muttalib, thereby clarifying Allah Almighty’s statement «‏‏‏‏وَذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ» ‏‏‏‏ [ سورة البقرة ] “And give to the near of kin,”that the relatives referred to are some of your relatives, not all. Likewise, the Prophet (peace be upon him), while explaining Allah Almighty’s statement «‏‏‏‏وَالسَّارِقُ وَالسَّارِقَةُ فَاقْطَعُوا أَيْدِيَهُمَا» ‏‏‏‏ [ سورة المائدة ] “Cut off the hand of the male thief and the female thief,”said that by this, Allah Almighty means some thieves, not all thieves. Because the term“thief”also applies to one who steals a dirham or less in value. But the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him) stated:“The hand of the thief will be cut off for stealing a quarter dinar or more in value.”Through this statement, the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him) clarified Allah Almighty’s noble statement «‏‏‏‏وَالسَّارِقُ وَالسَّارِقَةُ فَاقْطَعُوا أَيْدِيَهُمَا» ‏‏‏‏ [ سورة المائدة ] that it refers to some thieves (those who steal up to a quarter dinar in value). Allah Almighty said to His Prophet (peace be upon him) «‏‏‏‏وَأَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الذِّكْرَ لِتُبَيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ مَا نُزِّلَ إِلَيْهِمْ» ‏‏‏‏ [ سورة النحل ] This Reminder (the Qur’an) We have sent down to you (O Prophet), so that you may clearly explain to the people what has been sent down to them.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Buraidah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to perform ablution for every prayer. Then, when the day of the conquest of Makkah came, he performed ablution and wiped over his leather socks and offered several prayers with the same ablution. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him, "O Messenger of Allah, today you have done something which you did not use to do before." He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) replied, "Umar, I have done this deliberately." (To show that if ablution remains, it is not necessary to perform a new ablution for every prayer.) This is the narration of Abdur Rahman bin Mahdi.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Buraidah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to perform ablution for every prayer except on the day of the conquest of Makkah. (On that day) he became occupied, so he combined the Zuhr and Asr prayers with a single ablution.

Hazrat Sulaiman narrates from his father Sayyiduna Buraidah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to perform ablution for every prayer. Then, on the day of the conquest of Makkah, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) performed all the prayers with a single ablution. Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says that, except for Mu’ammar and Wakee’, no one has narrated this hadith from Imam Sufyan Thawri in a musnad (connected) form. Other narrators, apart from the students of Imam Sufyan Thawri, Mu’ammar and Wakee’, have narrated this hadith from Imam Sufyan, who narrated from Muharib, who narrated from Sulaiman bin Buraidah, and he narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The eminent Mu’ammar and Wakee’ have preserved the chain and its continuity, but this narration is extremely rare.