Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates this statement of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him: "When a person uses stones, he should do so in an odd number, because Allah Almighty is Odd and He loves the odd. Have you not seen? The heavens are seven, the days are seven, the circuits of Tawaf are seven." Then the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, mentioned some other things as well.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrate this statement of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "Whoever performs ablution should put water into his nose, and whoever uses stones (for cleaning) should do so an odd number of times." (Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) The word "istinshar" means to expel water from the nose, and "istinsaq" means to draw water into the nose. The statement of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), "Whoever performs ablution should do istinshar," means that he should do istinsaq. Thus, the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) here used the initial word "istinsaq" for the concluding act, which is "istinshar," because istinshar only occurs when it is preceded by istinsaq. And "istijmar" means to attain purity, that is, to remove impurity from both exits.