Ali said, "I was a man who experienced frequent prostatic discharge, but I felt too shy to ask the Prophet ﷺ about it because of his daughter's position as my wife. So I asked Miqdad bin Aswad to ask him on my behalf."The Prophet ﷺ replied, "He should wash his private part and perform ablution."
كنت رجلا مذاء، وكنت أستحي أن أسأل النبي ﷺ لمكان ابنته، فأمرت المقداد بن الأسود فسأله فقال: يغسل ذكره، ويتوضأ.
Bukhari narrated it in the chapter on wudu (178) and Muslim in the chapter on menstruation (303), both through the route of Amash, from Mundhir bin Yaala (Abu Yaala), from Muhammad bin Hanafiya, from Ali, and he related it. The wording given is Muslim's, and in a wording found in Bukhari (269), through another route, "Perform wudu, and wash your private part."His saying, "wash your private part," is something on which there is no disagreement.In Muslim, from Sulayman bin Yasar, from Ibn Abbas, who said, Ali bin Abu Talib said, "We sent Miqdad bin Aswad to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ," and in it, "Perform wudu, and sprinkle your private part."His saying, "and sprinkle it on your private part," refers also to the garment that the madhi has touched, for which sprinkling a little water suffices. This is Ahmad's view, while Shafii said, "Nothing suffices except washing." For more, see Minna Kubra (1/30-32).As for what Malik narrated in the chapter on purification (53), from Abu Nadr, the freed slave of Umar bin Ubaydullah, from Sulayman bin Yasar, from Miqdad bin Aswad, that Ali bin Abu Talib ordered him to ask the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, where he said, "When one of you experiences this, let him sprinkle his private part with water, and perform wudu as he would for prayer," this chain is disconnected, because Sulayman bin Yasar did not hear from Miqdad nor from Ali, and between Sulayman bin Yasar and Ali stands Ibn Abbas, as is found in the chain of Muslim.