Tafseer of The Table · Al-Maaida · 5:6
O you who have believed, when you rise to [perform] prayer, wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows and wipe over your heads and wash your feet to the ankles. And if you are in a state of janabah, then purify yourselves. But if you are ill or on a journey or one of you comes from the place of relieving himself or you have contacted women and do not find water, then seek clean earth and wipe over your faces and hands with it. Allah does not intend to make difficulty for you, but He intends to purify you and complete His favor upon you that you may be grateful.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the saying of the Most High: O you who believe, when you rise to perform the ritual prayer (ṣalāh) — by this He, mighty is His praise, means: O you who believe, when you rise to perform the ritual prayer while you are not in a state of ritual purity (ṭahāra), then wash your faces with water, and your hands up to the elbows.
Then the people of interpretation differed concerning His saying: when you rise to perform the prayer — whether every state in which one rises to it is meant, or only a part of it? And which of the states of rising to it is meant?
Some of them said concerning this approximately what we have said about it, namely that a part of the states of rising to it is meant and not all states, and that the state which is meant by it is the state of rising to it while one is not in a state of purity.
Mention of who said that:
8857 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh related to us, saying: ʿIkrima was asked about the saying of Allah: when you rise to perform the prayer, then wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows — must one then perform the wuḍūʾ every hour? He said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: No wuḍūʾ is required except after a ḥadath (something that breaks ritual purity).
8858 - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: I heard Masʿūd ibn ʿAlī al-Shaybānī, he said: I heard ʿIkrima, he said: Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ used to perform the prayers with a single wuḍūʾ.
8859 - Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Sufyān ibn Ḥabīb related to us, on the authority of Masʿūd ibn ʿAlī, on the authority of ʿIkrima, he said: Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ used to say: Pray with your purity as long as you do not cause a ḥadath.
8860 - Aḥmad ibn ʿAbda al-Ḍabbī related to us, saying: Sulaym ibn Akhḍar informed us, saying: Ibn ʿAwn informed us, on the authority of Muḥammad, he said: I said to ʿAbīda al-Salmānī: What makes the wuḍūʾ obligatory? He said: The ḥadath.
8861 - Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Wāqiʿ ibn Saḥbān ibn Yazīd ibn Ṭarīf — or Ṭarīf ibn Yazīd — that they were with Abū Mūsā on the bank of the Tigris. They performed the wuḍūʾ and prayed the ẓuhr; then when the call to the ʿaṣr prayer was made, men rose who washed themselves with water from the Tigris. He (Abū Mūsā) said: No wuḍūʾ is required except for one who has caused a ḥadath.
* - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Ṭarīf ibn Ziyād — or Ziyād ibn Ṭarīf — on the authority of Wāqiʿ ibn Saḥbān: that he witnessed how Abū Mūsā prayed the ẓuhr with his companions. Then they sat in circles on the bank of the Tigris. When the call to the ʿaṣr prayer was made, men rose to perform the wuḍūʾ, whereupon Abū Mūsā said: No wuḍūʾ is required except for one who has caused a ḥadath.
* - Ibn Bashshār and Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, they both said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: I heard Qatāda narrate on the authority of Wāqiʿ ibn Saḥbān, on the authority of Ṭarīf ibn Yazīd — or Yazīd ibn Ṭarīf — he said to us, he said: I was with Abū Mūsā on the bank of the Tigris — and he mentioned something similar.
* - Ibn Bashshār and Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, they both said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Wāqiʿ ibn Saḥbān, on the authority of Ṭarīf ibn Yazīd — or Yazīd ibn Ṭarīf — on the authority of Abū Mūsā, with the same.
8862 - Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Abū Khālid related to us, saying: I performed the wuḍūʾ at Abū al-ʿĀliya's place before the ẓuhr or the ʿaṣr, and I said: May I pray with this wuḍūʾ of mine, since I do not return to my family until the falling of darkness (al-ʿatama)? Abū al-ʿĀliya said: No objection. And he taught us: When a person has performed the wuḍūʾ, he remains in his state of wuḍūʾ until he causes a ḥadath.
8863 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Ibn Hilāl related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, he said: Performing the wuḍūʾ without there being a ḥadath is an overstepping (of the measure).
* - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Abū Dāwūd related to us, saying: Abū Hilāl related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Saʿīd, with the same.
8864 - Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, he said: I saw Ibrāhīm pray the ẓuhr, the ʿaṣr and the maghrib with a single wuḍūʾ.
8865 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿAththām related to us, saying: al-Aʿmash related to us, saying: I was with Yaḥyā, and I prayed the prayers with a single wuḍūʾ. He said: And Ibrāhīm did likewise.
8866 - Sawwār ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Bishr ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḥasan, when he was asked about the man who performs the wuḍūʾ and then prays all the prayers with a single wuḍūʾ; he said: There is no objection to it, as long as he does not cause a ḥadath.
8867 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiʿ related to us, saying: ʿUbayd related to us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, he said: One prays the prayers with the one wuḍūʾ as long as one does not cause a ḥadath.
8868 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Zāʾida related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of ʿUmāra, he said: al-Aswad used to pray the prayers with a single wuḍūʾ.
8869 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: O you who believe, when you rise to perform the prayer — he says: your rising while you are not in a state of purity.
8870 - Abū al-Sāʾib related to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of ʿUmāra, on the authority of al-Aswad: that he had a drinking cup (qaʿb) the size of one man's water need, and he performed the wuḍūʾ with it and then prayed all the prayers with that wuḍūʾ.
8871 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbbād ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Ziyād ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ṭufayl al-Bakkāʾī informed us, saying: al-Faḍl ibn al-Mubashshir related to us, saying: I saw Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh pray the prayers with a single wuḍūʾ; when he urinated or caused a ḥadath, he performed the wuḍūʾ and wiped over the leather socks (khuffayn) with the remainder of his purifying water. I said: O Abū ʿAbd Allāh, is this something you do on your own judgment? He said: No, I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ do it, so I do it as I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ do it.
And others said: Its meaning is: O you who believe, when you rise from your sleep to perform the prayer.
Mention of who said that:
8872 - al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Someone who heard Mālik ibn Anas narrate on the authority of Zayd ibn Aslam related to me, concerning his saying: O you who believe, when you rise to perform the prayer — he said: that means: when you rise from sleep.
* - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us that Mālik ibn Anas informed him on the authority of Zayd ibn Aslam, with the same.
8873 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning his saying: when you rise to perform the prayer, then wash your faces — he said: that means: your rising to perform the prayer from sleep.
And others said: Rather, what is meant by it is every state in which a person rises for his prayer, that he should perform a fresh purification for that prayer.
Mention of who said that:
8874 - Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Sufyān ibn Ḥabīb related to us, on the authority of Masʿūd ibn ʿAlī, he said: I asked ʿIkrima, I said: O Abū ʿAbd Allāh, I perform the wuḍūʾ for the morning prayer (al-ghadāh), then I go to the market, and then the ẓuhr prayer arrives — may I then pray (with the same wuḍūʾ)? He said: ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, may Allah be pleased with him, used to say: O you who believe, when you rise to perform the prayer, then wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows .
* - Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: I heard Masʿūd ibn ʿAlī al-Shaybānī, he said: I heard ʿIkrima say: ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, used to perform the wuḍūʾ at every prayer, and he recited this verse: O you who believe, when you rise to perform the prayer, then wash your faces — the verse.
8875 - Zakariyyā ibn Yaḥyā ibn Abī Zāʾida related to us, saying: Azhar related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿAwn, on the authority of Ibn Sīrīn: that the caliphs used to perform the wuḍūʾ for every prayer.
8876 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Ḥumayd, on the authority of Anas, he said: ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb performed a light, brief wuḍūʾ and said: This is the wuḍūʾ of one who has not caused a ḥadath.
8877 - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Wahb ibn Jarīr related to me, saying: Shuʿba informed us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Maysara, on the authority of al-Nazzāl, he said: I saw ʿAlī pray the ẓuhr, then he sat for the people in the square (al-raḥba), then water was brought to him and he washed his face and his hands, then he wiped over his head and his feet and said: This is the wuḍūʾ of one who has not caused a ḥadath.
8878 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: that ʿAlī measured out from a storage vessel (ḥubb) and performed a brief wuḍūʾ, and said: This is the wuḍūʾ of one who has not caused a ḥadath.
And others said: Rather, this was a command from Allah, exalted is His mention, to His Prophet ﷺ and to the believers, to perform the wuḍūʾ for every prayer; then that was abrogated (nasakha) by a lightening.
Mention of who said that:
8879 - ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ziyād al-Qaṭawānī related to me, saying: Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, he said: Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Ḥayyān al-Anṣārī, and then al-Māzinī, from Māzin of the Banū al-Najjār, related to me, and he said to ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar: Inform me about ʿAbd Allāh's (ibn ʿUmar's) wuḍūʾ for every prayer, whether he was pure or not pure — on whose authority (does that go back)? He said: Asmāʾ bint Zayd ibn al-Khaṭṭāb related it to me, that ʿAbd Allāh ibn Zayd ibn Ḥanẓala ibn Abī ʿĀmir al-Ghasīl related to her: that the Prophet ﷺ had commanded the performance of the wuḍūʾ at every prayer; that was burdensome for him (the believers), so the use of the siwāk (toothstick) was commanded, and the (obligation of) wuḍūʾ was lifted from him except after a ḥadath. Now ʿAbd Allāh considered that he had the strength for it, so he continued to perform the wuḍūʾ.
* - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama ibn al-Faḍl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Ṭalḥa ibn Yazīd ibn Rukāna, he said: Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Ḥabbān al-Anṣārī related to me, he said: I said to ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar: Inform me about ʿAbd Allāh's wuḍūʾ for every prayer! — then he mentioned something similar.
8880 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, they both said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿAlqama ibn Marthad, on the authority of Sulaymān ibn Burayda, on the authority of his father, he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to perform the wuḍūʾ for every prayer; when the year of the Conquest (of Mecca) came, he prayed the prayers with a single wuḍūʾ and wiped over his leather socks. ʿUmar said: Indeed, you have done something you did not used to do! He said: "I did that deliberately."
8881 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Muḥārib ibn Dithār, on the authority of Sulaymān ibn Burayda, on the authority of his father: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to perform the wuḍūʾ for every prayer; when the day of the Conquest of Mecca came, he prayed all the prayers with a single wuḍūʾ.
* - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Muḥārib ibn Dithār, on the authority of Sulaymān ibn Burayda: that the Prophet ﷺ used to perform the wuḍūʾ — and he mentioned something similar.
* - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Hishām related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿAlqama ibn Marthad, on the authority of Ibn Burayda, on the authority of his father, he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed all the prayers with a single wuḍūʾ. ʿUmar said to him: O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, you have done something you did not used to do? He said: "I did that deliberately, O ʿUmar."
* - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Muḥārib ibn Dithār, on the authority of Sulaymān ibn Burayda, on the authority of his father, he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to perform the wuḍūʾ for every prayer; when he conquered Mecca, he prayed the ẓuhr, the ʿaṣr, the maghrib and the ʿishāʾ with a single wuḍūʾ.
8882 - Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd al-Muḥāribī related to us, saying: al-Ḥakam ibn Ẓuhayr related to us, on the authority of Misʿar, on the authority of Muḥārib ibn Dithār, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed the ẓuhr, the ʿaṣr, the maghrib and the ʿishāʾ with a single wuḍūʾ.
If anyone supposes that in the narration which we have mentioned from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥanẓala — that the Prophet ﷺ commanded the performance of the wuḍūʾ at every prayer — there lies an indication that contradicts what we have said, namely that this was a recommendation (nadb) for the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and his companions, and that prevents this from having been an obligation — then he has supposed something that is not correct. For the saying of someone: "Allah commanded His Prophet ﷺ such and such," can carry various senses: obligation (ījāb), guidance (irshād), recommendation (nadb), permissibility (ibāḥa), and unrestricted leave (iṭlāq). And since it can bear the possible meanings mentioned, the most worthy of them is that for which the proof of consensus (ḥujja mujmaʿa) indicates its correctness, and not that for which there is no proof that establishes the validity of the one who claims it.
And the scholarly community is unanimously agreed that Allah, mighty and exalted is He, imposed neither upon His Prophet ﷺ nor upon His servants the duty of performing the wuḍūʾ for every prayer, only to abrogate it afterward. In their consensus on that lies the clear indication of the correctness of what we have said: that the practice of the Prophet ﷺ — what he used to do of that — occurred in the manner we have described, namely out of his preference to do that to which Allah, exalted is His mention, urged him and His believing servants with His saying: O you who believe, when you rise to perform the prayer, then wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows — the verse; and that his omission of it, in the state in which he omitted it, was an alleviation (tarkhīṣ) for his community and a notification from him to them that this is not obligatory and not binding, neither upon him nor upon them, except after a ḥadath that requires the breaking of purity.
And narrations have been transmitted in the spirit of what we have said about this:
8883 - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Wahb ibn Jarīr related to me, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn ʿĀmir, on the authority of Anas: that the Prophet ﷺ was brought a small drinking cup (qaʿb) and he performed the wuḍūʾ. He said: I said to Anas: Did the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to perform the wuḍūʾ at every prayer? He said: Yes. I said: And you (plural)? He said: We used to pray the prayers with a single wuḍūʾ.
8884 - Sulaymān ibn ʿUmar ibn Khālid al-Raqqī related to us, ʿĪsā ibn Yūnus related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ziyād al-Ifrīqī, on the authority of Abū Ghuṭayf, he said: I prayed the ẓuhr with Ibn ʿUmar, then he came into a sitting room in his house and sat down, and I sat with him. When the call to the ʿaṣr prayer was made, he asked for water for the wuḍūʾ and performed it, then he went to the prayer; then he returned to his sitting room. When the call to the maghrib was made, he asked for water for the wuḍūʾ and performed it. I said: Is it a sunna, what I see you doing? He said: No, and even though my wuḍūʾ for the morning prayer would suffice for all the prayers as long as I cause no ḥadath, I nevertheless heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: "Whoever performs the wuḍūʾ while he is already pure, for him ten good deeds are written." That is why I desire it.
* - Abū Saʿīd al-Baghdādī related to me, saying: Isḥāq ibn Manṣūr related to us, on the authority of Huraym, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ziyād, on the authority of Abū Ghuṭayf, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Whoever performs the wuḍūʾ while he is already pure, for him ten good deeds are written."
And some people have said: This verse was sent down to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ as a notification from Allah to him thereby, that no wuḍūʾ is incumbent upon him except when he rises for his prayer, and not for any of the remaining activities. That was because, when he caused a ḥadath, he would refrain from all activities until he performed the wuḍūʾ. Then he was permitted by this verse to do everything that occurred to him of activities after a ḥadath, except the prayer, whether he had performed the wuḍūʾ or not; and he was commanded to perform the wuḍūʾ when he rose for the prayer, before entering it.
Mention of who said that:
8885 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Hishām related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Bakr, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Ḥazm, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAlqama ibn Waqqāṣ, on the authority of his father, he said: When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ urinated, we would speak to him and he would not answer us, and we would greet him and he would not return our greeting, until he came into his dwelling and performed the wuḍūʾ like his wuḍūʾ for the prayer. We said: O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, we speak to you and you do not answer us, and we greet you and you do not return our greeting! He said: (That lasted) until the verse of the dispensation (āyat al-rukhṣa) was sent down: O you who believe, when you rise to perform the prayer — the verse.
The explanation of the saying of the Most High: then wash your faces
The people of interpretation differed concerning the boundary of the face that Allah commanded the one who rises for the prayer to wash, with His saying: when you rise to perform the prayer, then wash your faces . Some of them said: It is what is visible of a person's skin, from the hairline of his head, descending lengthwise to the end of his chin, and breadthwise what lies between the two ears. They said: As for the ear, and what is hidden inside the mouth, the nose and the eye — that does not belong to the face nor to anything else, and I do not recommend washing it, nor washing any part of it, in the wuḍūʾ. They said: And as for what is covered by hair, such as the chin that is covered by the hair of the beard, and the two temples (ṣudgayn) that are covered by the sideburns (ʿidhār) — for that it suffices to let water run over the hair that is upon it, instead of washing the skin of the face that lies hidden beneath it; for the face, according to them, is what is visible to the eye of the beholder and shows itself to it, and nothing else.
Mention of who said that:
8886 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿUmar ibn ʿUbayd related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: For the beard, the water that flows over it suffices.
* - Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: al-Mughīra related to us, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: For him it suffices that the water flows from his face over his beard.
* - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of al-Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, something similar.
* - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Abū Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, something similar.
8887 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, concerning the running of water through the beard (takhlīl al-liḥya), he said: For you it suffices what passes over your beard.
8888 - Hārūn ibn Isḥāq al-Hamdānī related to us, saying: Muṣʿab ibn al-Miqdām related to us, saying: Zāʾida related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, he said: I saw Ibrāhīm perform the wuḍūʾ, and he did not run water through his beard.
* - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd al-Zubaydī, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: The water that flows over it suffices for you, instead of running water through it.
8889 - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of Yūnus, he said: al-Ḥasan used to, when he performed the wuḍūʾ, wipe over his beard together with his face.
* - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: Hishām related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: that he did not used to run water through his beard.
* - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak related to us, on the authority of Hishām, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: that he did not used to run water through his beard when he performed the wuḍūʾ.
* - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Hārūn related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, with the same.
8890 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath, on the authority of Ibn Sīrīn, he said: Washing the beard does not belong to the sunna.
* - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Hārūn related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā ibn Yazīd, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: that he, when he performed the wuḍūʾ, did not let the water penetrate to the roots of his beard.
8891 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Hārūn related to us, on the authority of Abū Shayba Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Zubaydī, he said: I asked Ibrāhīm: Must I run water through my beard in the wuḍūʾ? He said: No, only that over which your hand has passed suffices for you.
* - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: I asked Shuʿba about running water through the beard in the wuḍūʾ, and he said: al-Mughīra said: Ibrāhīm said: For him it suffices that the water flows from his face over his beard.
8892 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related to me, saying: Ḥajjāj ibn Rishdīn related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Jabbār ibn ʿUmar related to us: that Ibn Shihāb and Rabīʿa performed the wuḍūʾ and let the water run over their beards, and I saw neither of them run water through his beard.
8893 - Abū al-Walīd al-Dimashqī related to us, saying: al-Walīd ibn Muslim related to us, saying: I asked Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz about rubbing the cheek-hair (al-ʿāriḍayn) in the wuḍūʾ, and he said: That is not obligatory; I saw Makḥūl perform the wuḍūʾ and he did not do that.
8894 - Abū al-Walīd Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Qurashī related to us, saying: al-Walīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd ibn Bashīr informed me, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: Rubbing the cheek-hair in the wuḍūʾ is not obligatory.
* - Abū al-Walīd related to us, saying: al-Walīd related to us, saying: Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad informed me, on the authority of al-Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: For him it suffices the water that passes over his beard.
8895 - Abū al-Walīd al-Qurashī related to us, saying: al-Walīd related to us, saying: Ibn Lahīʿa informed me, on the authority of Sulaymān ibn Abī Zaynab, he said: I asked al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad: How should I deal with my beard when I perform the wuḍūʾ? He said: I am not among those who wash their beards.
8896 - Abū al-Walīd related to us, saying: al-Walīd related to us, Abū ʿAmr said: Rubbing the cheek-hair and interlacing the beard is not obligatory in the wuḍūʾ.
Mention of what we have transmitted from the adherents of this view concerning the washing of what is hidden of the mouth and the nose:
8897 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abī Bashīr, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: Were it not for the tasting (of something) during the prayer, I would not rinse the mouth (madmada).
8898 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: I heard ʿAbd al-Malik say: ʿAṭāʾ was asked about a man who prayed and had not rinsed the mouth; he said: What is not mentioned in the Book, it suffices him (it is sufficient for him).
8899 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: Rinsing the mouth (al-maḍmaḍa) and sniffing up water (al-istinshāq) do not belong to the obligatory parts of the wuḍūʾ.
8900 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: al-Ṣabbāḥ related to us, on the authority of Abū Sinān, he said: al-Ḍaḥḥāk used to forbid us rinsing the mouth and sniffing up water in the wuḍūʾ during Ramadan.
8901 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: I heard Hishām, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: When someone forgets the rinsing of the mouth and the sniffing up of water, he said: If he remembers it while he has already begun the prayer, let him continue his prayer; and if he has not yet begun it, then he rinses the mouth and sniffs up water.
8902 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, he said: I asked al-Ḥakam and Qatāda about a man who, while he is in the prayer, remembers that he has not rinsed the mouth and has not sniffed up water; they said: He continues his prayer.
Mention of what we have transmitted from the adherents of this view, that the two ears do not belong to the face:
8903 - Yazīd ibn Mukhlid al-Wāsiṭī related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Ghaylān, he said: I heard Ibn ʿUmar say: The two ears belong to the head.
* - ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Abī ʿUmayr related to us, saying: Abū Muṭarrif related to us, saying: Ghaylān, the mawlā of the Banū Makhzūm, related to us, he said: I heard Ibn ʿUmar say: The two ears belong to the head.
* - al-Ḥasan ibn ʿArafa related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Yazīd related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, he said: The two ears belong to the head; so when you wipe over the head, wipe over them too.
* - Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Ghaylān ibn ʿAbd Allāh, the mawlā of the Quraysh, informed me, he said: I heard that a questioner asked Ibn ʿUmar, he said: He performed the wuḍūʾ and forgot to wipe over his ears. He said: Ibn ʿUmar then said: The two ears belong to the head. And he saw in that no objection against him.
* - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related to me, saying: Ayyūb ibn Suwayd related to us. (ḥ) And Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us — both — on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Sālim Abī al-Naḍr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Marjāna, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar: that he said: The two ears belong to the head.
* - Ibn al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Wahb ibn Jarīr related to me, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of a man, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, he said: The two ears belong to the head.
8904 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Salama related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Zayd, on the authority of Yūsuf ibn Mihrān, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: The two ears belong to the head.
8905 - Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of al-Ḥasan and Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, they both said: The two ears belong to the head.
* - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: The two ears belong to the head — on the authority of al-Ḥasan and Saʿīd.
* - Abū al-Walīd al-Dimashqī related to us, saying: al-Walīd ibn Muslim related to us, saying: Abū ʿAmr informed me, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, he said: The two ears belong to the head.
* - Abū al-Walīd related to us, saying: al-Walīd related to us, saying: Ibn Lahīʿa informed me, on the authority of Abū al-Naḍr, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, with the same.
* - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Hārūn related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā ibn Yazīd, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: The two ears belong to the head.
8906 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Bazīʿ related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Zayd related to us, on the authority of Sinān ibn Rabīʿa, on the authority of Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, on the authority of Abū Umāma — or on the authority of Abū Hurayra; Ibn Bazīʿ was in doubt — that the Prophet ﷺ said: "The two ears belong to the head."
8907 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Muʿallā ibn Manṣūr related to us, on the authority of Ḥammād ibn Zayd, on the authority of Sinān ibn Rabīʿa, on the authority of Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, on the authority of Abū Umāma, he said: The two ears belong to the head. Ḥammād said: I do not know whether this is on the authority of Abū Umāma or on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ.
* - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Zayd related to me, saying: Sinān ibn Rabīʿa Abū Rabīʿa related to me, on the authority of Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, on the authority of Abū Umāma: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "The two ears belong to the head."
8908 - Abū al-Walīd al-Dimashqī related to us, saying: al-Walīd ibn Muslim related to us, saying: Ibn Jurayj and others informed me, on the authority of Sulaymān ibn Mūsā: that the Prophet ﷺ said: "The two ears belong to the head."
8909 - al-Ḥasan ibn Shabīb related to us, saying: ʿAlī ibn Hāshim ibn al-Barīd related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn Muslim related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "The two ears belong to the head."
8910 - Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Sufyān ibn Ḥabīb related to us, on the authority of Yūnus: that al-Ḥasan said: The two ears belong to the head.
And others said: The face is: everything below the hairline of the head to the end of the chin lengthwise, and from one ear to the other breadthwise — both what of it is visible to the eye of the beholder, and what of it is hidden of the hair-roots of the beard that grows on the chin and on the cheek-hair, and what of it is inside the mouth and the nose, and what of the two ears is directed toward the face. All of this, according to them, belongs to the face that Allah commanded to be washed with His saying: then wash your faces . And they said: If the one who performs the wuḍūʾ omits any of that and does not wash it, then his prayer with that wuḍūʾ is not valid for him.
Mention of who said that:
8911 - Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Bakr and Abū ʿĀṣim related to me, they both said: Ibn Jurayj informed us, saying: Nāfiʿ informed me: that Ibn ʿUmar used to moisten the hair-roots of his beard and used to dig with his hand into the roots of its hair until its droplets became abundant.
* - Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Sufyān ibn Ḥabīb related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: Nāfiʿ, the mawlā of Ibn ʿUmar, informed me: that Ibn ʿUmar used to dig his hands into his beard until its droplets became abundant.
* - ʿImrān ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wārith related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, he said: Layth related to us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar: that he, when he performed the wuḍūʾ, ran water through his beard until he reached the hair-roots.
8912 - Ibn Abī al-Shawārib related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Muʿallā ibn Jābir al-Laqīṭī related to us, saying: al-Azraq ibn Qays informed me, he said: I saw Ibn ʿUmar perform the wuḍūʾ and he ran water through his beard.
* - Yaʿqūb related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Layth informed us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ: that Ibn ʿUmar used to run water through his beard until he reached the hair-roots.
8913 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Bakr related to us, saying: Ibn Jurayj related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr informed me: that his father, ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr, when he performed the wuḍūʾ, used to dig his fingers into the roots of the facial hair; he dug them between the hair at its roots and rubbed his fingers over the skin. And ʿAbd Allāh gestured it to me as the man had reported it to him, as it was described from him.
8914 - Abū al-Walīd related to us, saying: al-Walīd related to us, saying: Abū ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar: that he, when he performed the wuḍūʾ, rubbed his cheek-hair slightly and sometimes interlaced his beard with his fingers and sometimes omitted it.
8915 - Abū al-Walīd and ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to us, they both said: al-Walīd related to us, saying: Abū ʿAmr related to us, and ʿAbda informed me, on the authority of Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī, something similar.
8916 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Muslim, he said: I saw Ibn Abī Laylā perform the wuḍūʾ and wash his beard, and he said: Whoever of you is able to make the water penetrate to the hair-roots, let him do that.
8917 - Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Sufyān ibn Ḥabīb related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, he said: It is obligatory for him to moisten the hair-roots.
8918 - Ibn Abī al-Shawārib related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, he said: Mujāhid used to run water through his beard.
* - Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Mujāhid: that he used to run water through his beard when he performed the wuḍūʾ.
* - Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Mujāhid, with the same.
* - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Mujāhid, with the same.
8919 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Abū Dāwūd al-Ḥafarī related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Shubruma, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, he said: How is it that the beard is washed before it grows, and when it has grown it is not washed?
* - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar: that he used to run water through his beard when he performed the wuḍūʾ.
8920 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Hārūn related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Ṭāwūs: that he used to run water through his beard.
8921 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Hārūn related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of Ibn Sīrīn: that he used to run water through his beard.
* - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak related to us, on the authority of Hishām, on the authority of Ibn Sīrīn, with the same.
* - Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: I asked Shuʿba about running water through the beard in the wuḍūʾ, and he mentioned on the authority of al-Ḥakam ibn ʿUtayba: that Mujāhid used to run water through his beard.
* - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Hārūn related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of Maʿrūf, he said: I saw Ibn Sīrīn perform the wuḍūʾ and run water through his beard.
* - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: Hishām related to us, on the authority of Ibn Sīrīn, with the same.
8922 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Zubayr ibn ʿAdī, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, he said: I saw him run water through his beard.
8923 - Tamīm ibn al-Muntaṣir related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Yazīd informed us, on the authority of Abū al-Ashhab, on the authority of Mūsā ibn Abī ʿĀʾisha, on the authority of Zayd al-Khudrī, on the authority of Yazīd al-Raqāshī, on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik, he said: I saw the Prophet ﷺ perform the wuḍūʾ and run water through his beard. I said: Why do you do this, O Prophet of Allah? He said: "My Lord commanded me that."
* - Tamīm related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Yazīd informed us, on the authority of Sallām ibn Salm, on the authority of Zayd al-ʿAmmī, on the authority of Muʿāwiya ibn Qurra — or Yazīd al-Raqāshī — on the authority of Anas, he said: I had the Prophet ﷺ perform the wuḍūʾ, and he brought his fingers in from under his jaw and ran water through his beard, and said: "With this my Lord, mighty and exalted is He, commanded me."
* - Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Aḥmasī related to us, saying: al-Muḥāribī related to us, on the authority of Sallām ibn Salm al-Madīnī, he said: Zayd al-ʿAmmī related to us, on the authority of Muʿāwiya ibn Qurra, on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, something similar.
* - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Abū ʿUbayda al-Ḥaddād related to us, saying: Mūsā ibn Sharwān related to us, on the authority of Yazīd al-Raqāshī, on the authority of Anas, he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Thus my Lord commanded me." And he brought his fingers into his beard and ran water through it.
8924 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Hishām and ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Mūsā related to us, on the authority of Khālid ibn Ilyās, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rāfiʿ, on the authority of Umm Salama: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ performed the wuḍūʾ and ran water through his beard.
8925 - ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Ḥurr related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Rabīʿa related to us, on the authority of Wāṣil ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Abū Sawra, on the authority of Abū Ayyūb, he said: "We saw the Prophet ﷺ perform the wuḍūʾ and run water through his beard."
8926 - Abū Hishām al-Rifāʿī related to us, saying: Zayd ibn al-Ḥubāb related to us, saying: ʿUmar ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of Abū Ghālib, on the authority of Abū Umāma: "that the Prophet ﷺ ran water through his beard."
8927 - Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā al-Dāmaghānī related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Karīm Abī Umayya: that Ḥassān ibn Thābit al-Muzanī saw that ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir performed the wuḍūʾ and ran water through his beard. It was said to him: Do you do this? He said: Indeed, I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ do it.
8928 - Abū al-Walīd related to us, saying: al-Walīd related to us, saying: Abū ʿAmr related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Qays informed me, on the authority of Yazīd al-Raqāshī and Qatāda: "that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, when he performed the wuḍūʾ, rubbed his cheek-hair and interlaced his beard with his fingers."
8929 - Abū al-Walīd related to us, saying: al-Walīd related to us, saying: Abū Mahdī ibn Sinān informed me, on the authority of Abū al-Zāhiriyya, on the authority of Jubayr ibn Nufayr, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, something similar.
8930 - Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Aḥmasī related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd al-Ṭanāfisī Abū ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Wāṣil al-Raqāshī related to me, on the authority of Abū Sawra — so said al-Aḥmasī — on the authority of Abū Ayyūb, he said: "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to, when he performed the wuḍūʾ, rinse the mouth and stroke his beard with water from below."
Mention of what we have transmitted from the adherents of this view concerning the washing of what is hidden of the nose and the mouth:
8931 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, he said: I heard Mujāhid say: Sniffing up water is half of the wuḍūʾ.
8932 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, he said: I asked Ḥammād about a man who, while he is in the prayer, remembers that he has not rinsed the mouth and has not sniffed up water; Ḥammād said: He interrupts (the prayer) and rinses the mouth and sniffs up water.
8933 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: al-Ṣabbāḥ related to us, on the authority of Abū Sinān, he said: I came to Kūfa and went to Ḥammād and asked him about that — namely about one who omits the rinsing of the mouth and the sniffing up of water and (yet) prays; he said: I am of the opinion that he must repeat the prayer.
8934 - Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: Qatāda used to say: When someone omits the rinsing of the mouth, or the sniffing up of water, or his ear, or a part of his foot until he begins his prayer, then he turns away, performs the wuḍūʾ (again) and repeats his prayer.
Mention of what we have transmitted from the adherents of this view, that what of the two ears is directed forward belongs to the face, and what is directed backward belongs to the head:
8935 - Abū al-Sāʾib related to us, saying: Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth related to us, saying: Ashʿath related to us, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, he said: What of the two ears is directed forward belongs to the face, and what is directed backward belongs to the head.
* - Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to me, on the authority of al-Ḥakam and Ḥammād, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī concerning the two ears: The inner side of them belongs to the face, and the outer side of them to the head.
* - Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, he said: The front of the two ears belongs to the face, and the back of them to the head.
* - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of al-Ḥakam and Ḥammād, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, with the same, except that he said: the inner side of the two ears.
* - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Ḥammād, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, with the same, except that he said: the inner side of the two ears.
* - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Ḥammād, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, with the same.
* - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, he said: The inner side of the two ears belongs to the face, and the outer side of them to the head.
8936 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Abū Tumayla related to us. (ḥ) And Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, both of them said: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Ṭalḥa ibn Yazīd ibn Rukāna related to me, on the authority of ʿUbayd Allāh al-Khawlānī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib said: Shall I perform the wuḍūʾ for you like the wuḍūʾ of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ? He said: We said: Yes. Then he performed the wuḍūʾ, and when he washed his face, he inserted his two thumbs into (the hollow of) what of his ears was directed forward. He said: Then, when he wiped over his head, he wiped over his two ears at the back of them.
And the most worthy of the sayings on this, in our view, is the saying of the one who says: The face that Allah, exalted is His mention, commanded the one who rises for his prayer to wash, is: everything that descends from the hairline of the head to the end of the chin lengthwise, and what lies between the two ears breadthwise, namely what is visible to the eye of the beholder — not what is hidden of the mouth, the nose and the eye, and not what is covered by the hair of the beard, the cheek-hair and the mustache, so that it remains hidden from the gazes of the beholders, and not the two ears.
And we said only that this is the most worthy, even though what lies under the hair of the beard and the mustache was a face that had to be washed before the growing of the hair that conceals it from the eyes of the beholders, by the one who rises for his prayer — because of the consensus of all of them that the two eyes belong to the face. Then they, despite their consensus on that, are also agreed that washing what lies above it of the eyelids, without making the water penetrate to what lies beneath the eyelids of those two, is sufficient. And since that is a consensus among them, on the basis of the instruction (tawqīf) of the Messenger ﷺ to his community concerning it, the same applies to everything at the places of the wuḍūʾ of the human body that is overlaid by a natural created covering, so that the water reaches it only with difficulty, effort and treatment — by analogy with the ruling concerning the two eyes that we have mentioned.
And since that is so, there is no doubt that what is hidden of the nose, the mouth, the hair of the beard, the temples and the mustache, is equivalent to the two eyes regarding the effort to bring water to it during the wuḍūʾ; for the water reaches all of that only with a treatment to bring the water to it, roughly like the effort in treating the two eyeballs to bring water to them, or even more difficult.
And since that is so, it is clear that the washing, by whichever of the companions and the Successors (tābiʿūn), of what lies under the hair-roots of the beard, the cheek-hair and the mustache, and what is hidden of the nose and the mouth, was only a preference of his for the heavier of the two matters — namely washing it and omitting it — just as Ibn ʿUmar preferred washing what lies beneath the eyelids with water by pouring the water into it, not because that was for him an imposed obligation.
As for the one who supposes that this of their practice occurred in the manner of obligation and duty, he has thereby contradicted in his saying their path and disregarded the way of analogy; for the analogy is what we have described, namely the modeling of that concerning which there is disagreement here upon the consensually agreed foundational principle concerning the ruling about the two eyes, and the fact that there is no report from any of the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that imposes upon the one who omits to make the water penetrate in his wuḍūʾ to the roots of the hair of his beard and his cheek-hair, and upon the one who omits the rinsing of the mouth and the sniffing up of water, the repeating of his prayer when he has prayed with that purification. In that lies the clearest proof of the correctness of what we have said: that their practice — what they did of that — was a preference of theirs for the more worthy of the two actions, the omitting and the washing.
And if anyone supposes that in the reports transmitted from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — that he said: "When one of you performs the wuḍūʾ, let him expel water from his nose (fa-l-yastanthir)" — there lies an indication of the obligation of expelling water from the nose, then in the consensus of the scholarly community that this is not a duty for the omission of which the repeating of the prayer that one has performed before washing it is obligatory, lies what makes it superfluous to say much about it.
As for the two ears: in the consensus of all of them that omitting the washing of them, or washing what of them is directed toward the face, does not corrupt the prayer of one who has prayed with that purification in which he omitted washing them — together with their collective consensus that, if he omitted washing something that is obligatory for him to wash of his face in his wuḍūʾ, his prayer with that purification is not valid for him — in that lies what indicates the saying on this matter, namely what the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, whose saying we have mentioned, said: that the two ears do not belong to the face; and not what al-Shaʿbī said.
The explanation of the saying of the Most High: and your hands up to the elbows
The people of interpretation differed concerning the elbows (al-marāfiq): do they belong to the hand that must obligatorily be washed, or not? — after they all unanimously agree that washing the hand up to them is obligatory.
Mālik ibn Anas said — when he was asked about the saying of Allah: then wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows : Are you of the opinion that one must pass over the elbows in the wuḍūʾ (i.e., wash beyond them)? He said: That with which he is commanded is that he reach the elbows. The Most High and Blessed said: then wash your faces — and this one went and washed his backside! It was said to him: But one washes only up to the elbows and the ankles, one does not go beyond them? He said: I do not know what "one does not go beyond them" means; as for that which he is commanded to reach, it is this: up to the elbows and the ankles. Yūnus related to us, on the authority of Ashhab, on his authority.
And al-Shāfiʿī said: I know of no one who does not agree that the elbows belong to the part to be washed — as if he inclines to the view that its meaning is: then wash your faces and your hands up to that you wash the elbows . Al-Rabīʿ related that to us from him.
And others said: Allah, with His saying: and your hands up to the elbows , made obligatory only the washing of the hands up to the elbows; the elbows are thus an end-limit (ghāya) of what Allah made obligatory to wash of the end of the hand, and the end-limit does not fall within the boundary — just as the night does not fall within what Allah, the Most High, made obligatory upon His servants of fasting with His saying: then complete the fast until the night (2:187); for the night is an end-limit for the fasting of the one who fasts: when he reaches it, he has fulfilled what was imposed upon him. They said: So too are the elbows in His saying: then wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows an end-limit of what Allah made obligatory to wash of the hand. And this is the saying of Zufar ibn al-Hudhayl.
And the correct saying on this, in our view, is: that the washing of the hands up to the elbows belongs to the duty, the omission of which, or of a part of which, renders the prayer invalid with that omission of washing it. As for the elbows and what lies behind them: the washing of that belongs to the recommendation (nadb) to which he, peace and blessings be upon him, urged his community with his saying: "My community will be radiant with shining limbs from the traces of the wuḍūʾ; whoever of you is able to extend his radiance, let him do so." So the prayer of one who omits washing them and washing what lies behind them is not corrupted, for what we have already explained earlier: that every end-limit bounded by "up to" (ilā), in the speech of the Arabs, can carry both the inclusion of the end-limit within the boundary and its exclusion. And since the saying can carry that, it is not permissible for anyone to rule that it is included therein, except for one whose contradiction is not permissible in what he has explained and ruled; and no one whose ruling must be obligatorily accepted has ruled that the elbows belong to what, in our view, must be obligatorily washed.
The explanation of the saying of the Most High: and wipe over your heads
The people of interpretation differed concerning the nature of the wiping (al-mash) that Allah commanded with His saying: and wipe over your heads . Some of them said: Wipe with that part of your heads with which it seems good to you to wipe, with water, when you rise for the prayer.
Mention of who said that:
8937 - Naṣr ibn ʿAlī al-Jahḍamī related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Masʿada related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā ibn Ḥafṣ, he said: At al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad's place, the wiping over the head was brought up, and he said: O Nāfiʿ, how did Ibn ʿUmar used to wipe? He said: With a single stroke. And he described that he wiped over the front of his head in the direction of his face. Al-Qāsim then said: Ibn ʿUmar is the most learned in fiqh and the most knowledgeable among us.
8938 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, saying: I heard Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd say: Nāfiʿ informed me that Ibn ʿUmar, when he performed the wuḍūʾ, brought his two palms back into the water and placed them in it, and then wiped with his two hands over the front of his head.
8939 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Bukayr related to us, saying: Ibn Jurayj informed us, saying: Nāfiʿ informed me: that Ibn ʿUmar used to place the inner side of his palms on the water, then did not shake them off, and then wiped with them over what lies between his two crowns (qarnayn) up to the forehead, once; and added no more than that to it, in all of that a single stroke, going forward from the forehead to the crown.
* - Tamīm ibn al-Muntaṣir related to us, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Sharīk informed us, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Anṣārī, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar: that he, when he performed the wuḍūʾ, wiped over the front of his head.
8940 - Tamīm ibn al-Muntaṣir related to us, saying: Isḥāq informed us, saying: Sharīk informed us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Aʿlā al-Thaʿlabī, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā, he said: It suffices for you that you wipe over the front of your head when you are an ʿumra pilgrim, and so does the woman likewise.
8941 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh al-Ashjaʿī related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn ʿAjlān, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, he said: I saw Ibn ʿUmar wipe over his crown (yāfūkh) with a single stroke. And Sufyān said: If he wipes over his hair, it suffices him — namely once.
8942 - Abū Hishām related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Salām ibn Ḥarb related to us, saying: Mughīra informed us, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: Whichever sides of your head you touch with the water, it suffices you.
8943 - Abū Hishām related to us, saying: ʿAlī ibn Ẓabyān related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid related to us, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, with the same.
* - al-Rifāʿī related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl al-Azraq, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, with the same.
8944 - Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Ayyūb informed us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, he said: Ibn ʿUmar used to wipe over his head thus — and Ayyūb placed his palm in the middle of his head and then moved it over the front of his head.
8945 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn al-Ḥubāb related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, he said: If he wipes over his head with a single finger, it suffices him.
8946 - Abū al-Walīd al-Dimashqī related to us, saying: al-Walīd ibn Muslim related to us, saying: I said to Abū ʿAmr: What suffices of the wiping over the head? He said: That you wipe over the front of your head to the back of the head is more pleasing to me.
* - al-ʿAbbās ibn al-Walīd related to me, on the authority of his father, on his authority, something similar.
And others said: Its meaning is: wipe over your entire heads. They said: If he does not wipe over his entire head with water, his prayer with that wuḍūʾ is not valid.
Mention of who said that:
8947 - Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ashhab related to us, saying: Mālik said: Whoever wipes over a part of his head and does not do all of it, repeats the prayer, in the same way as one who washes a part of his face or a part of his forearm. He said: And Mālik was asked about wiping over the head; he said: He begins from the front of his face (the hairline), moves his hands to the back of his head, and then brings them back to the place where he began.
And others said: Wiping over the head with less than three fingers does not suffice. And this is the saying of Abū Ḥanīfa, Abū Yūsuf and Muḥammad.
And the correct saying on this, in our view, is: that Allah, mighty is His praise, commanded the one who rises for his prayer to wipe over his head, together with the other parts that He commanded him to wash or wipe therewith, and He did not bound that with a limit below which one may not remain or which one may not exceed. And since that is so: whatever the one who performs the wuḍūʾ wipes of his head, so that by that wiping he merits that it be said of him: "he wiped over his head," he has fulfilled what Allah imposed upon him of the wiping over it, because he falls under that to which the designation "what he wiped of his head when he rose for the prayer" applies.
And if anyone says to us: But Allah said concerning the tayammum (ritual purification with earth): then wipe over your faces and your hands (4:43) — does wiping over a part of the face and the hands suffice in the tayammum? — then it is said to him: All of that which is wiped with earth, in that concerning which the scholars differ — some of them said: that suffices him for the tayammum, and others said: that does not suffice him — that suffices him (indeed), because he falls under the designation "those who wipe with it." And as for what is consensually held to be insufficient, in that is accepted what the proof furnishes in a narration from her Prophet ﷺ, and no one has in that an argument against us, since it is part of our doctrine that: what comes in the verses of the Book as general (ʿāmm) in a meaning, must be obligatorily ruled upon according to its generality until something that must be obligatorily accepted specifies it; so when something of it is specified, what is specified of it falls outside its literal meaning, and the rest of it is ruled upon according to the generality. And we have already explained the reason that requires the correctness of that saying in another place, in a manner that makes it superfluous to repeat it in this place.
And the head over which Allah, mighty and exalted is He, commanded the wiping with His saying: and wipe over your heads and your feet up to the ankles is the hairline of the head — not what goes beyond it toward the back of the head, directed backward, and not what descends from it, directed forward in the direction of his face up to the forehead.
The explanation of the saying of the Most High: and your feet up to the ankles
The reciters (al-qurrāʾ) differed concerning its recitation. A group of the reciters of the Ḥijāz and Iraq recited it: and your feet (wa-arjulakum) up to the ankles in the accusative (naṣb). Its interpretation is then: when you rise for the prayer, then wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows, and your feet up to the ankles, and wipe over your heads. And when it is recited thus, it belongs to the postponed (al-muʾakhkhar) whose meaning is the bringing forward (al-taqdīm), and "the feet" are in the accusative, as a coordination (ʿaṭf) upon "the hands." And the reciters who read it thus explained that Allah, mighty is His praise, commanded His servants only the washing of the feet, and not the wiping over them.
Mention of who said: Allah meant by His saying and your feet up to the ankles the washing:
8948 - Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Khālid al-Ḥadhdhāʾ related to us, on the authority of Abū Qilāba: that a man prayed while on the upper part of his foot there was a spot the size of a fingernail (left dry). When he had completed his prayer, ʿUmar said to him: Repeat your wuḍūʾ and your prayer.
8949 - Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥasan related to us, saying: Huzayl ibn Shuraḥbīl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, he said: Make the water penetrate between the toes (khallilū al-aṣābiʿ), so that the Fire does not penetrate between them.
8950 - ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ al-ʿAṭṭār related to us, saying: Ḥafṣ ibn ʿUmar al-Ḥawḍī related to us, saying: Marjā — namely Ibn Rajāʾ al-Yashkurī — related to us, saying: Abū Rawḥ ʿUmāra ibn Abī Ḥafṣa related to us, on the authority of al-Mughīra ibn Ḥunayn: that the Prophet ﷺ saw a man perform the wuḍūʾ while he washed his feet, and he said: "With this I have been commanded."
8951 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Wāqid, the mawlā of Zayd ibn Khulayda, he said: I heard Muṣʿab ibn Saʿīd say: ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb saw people perform the wuḍūʾ and said: Make the water penetrate between (the toes).
8952 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, saying: I heard Yaḥyā say: I heard al-Qāsim say: Ibn ʿUmar used to take off his leather socks, then perform the wuḍūʾ and wash his feet, and then make the water penetrate between his toes.
8953 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Zubayr ibn ʿAdī, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: I said to al-Aswad: Did you see ʿUmar wash his feet thoroughly? He said: Yes.
8954 - Muḥammad ibn Khalaf related to me, saying: Isḥāq ibn Manṣūr related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Muslim related to us, on the authority of Ibrāhīm ibn Maysara, on the authority of ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz: that he said to Ibn Abī Suwayd: It has reached us about three persons, who all saw the Prophet ﷺ wash his feet thoroughly; the closest of them to you is your cousin al-Mughīra.
8955 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: al-Ṣabbāḥ related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad — and that is Ibn Abān — on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Ḥārith, on the authority of ʿAlī, he said: Wash the feet up to the ankles.
* - Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Khālid, on the authority of Abū Qilāba: that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb saw a man who had left on the upper part of his foot (a dry spot) the size of a fingernail, and he commanded him to repeat his wuḍūʾ and his prayer.
8956 - Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Shayba ibn Naṣṣāḥ, he said: I accompanied al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad to Mecca, and I saw that he, when he performed the wuḍūʾ for the prayer, brought his toes (apart) and poured water over them. I said: O Abū Muḥammad, why do you do this? He said: I saw Ibn ʿUmar do it.
8957 - Abū Kurayb and Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, they both said: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: I heard my father, on the authority of Ḥammād, on the authority of Ibrāhīm concerning his saying: then wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows and wipe over your heads and your feet up to the ankles — he said: The command returns to the washing.
8958 - al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣudāʾī related to me, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of Ḥafṣ al-Ghāḍirī, on the authority of ʿĀmir ibn Kulayb, on the authority of Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, he said: al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn, may Allah's pleasure be upon them, recited before ʿAlī, and they read: and your feet (wa-arjulakum) up to the ankles . ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, heard that — and he used to judge justly among the people — and he said: "wa-arjulakum" (in the accusative); this belongs to the bringing-forward and the postponement in speech.
8959 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, on the authority of Khālid, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: that he recited it: then wipe over your heads and your feet in the accusative, and said: The command returns to the washing.
8960 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAbda and Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Hishām ibn ʿUrwa, on the authority of his father: that he recited it: and your feet and said: The command returns to the washing.
8961 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak related to us, on the authority of Qays, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Zirr, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh: that he used to recite it: and your feet in the accusative.
8962 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning his saying: then wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows and wipe over your heads and your feet up to the ankles — he says: wash your faces, and wash your feet, and wipe over your heads; this thus belongs to the bringing-forward and the postponement.
8963 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī related to us, on the authority of Shaybān, he said: It is firmly transmitted to me from ʿAlī that he read: and your feet . Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Hishām ibn ʿUrwa, on the authority of his father: and your feet — the command returned to the washing.
8964 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Khālid, on the authority of ʿIkrima, with the same.
8965 - al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥimmānī related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, he said: The companions of ʿAbd Allāh (ibn Masʿūd) used to recite it: and your feet , and so they washed.
* - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Ḥārith, on the authority of ʿAlī, he said: Wash the two feet up to the ankles.
8966 - ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Zuhrī related to me, saying: Sufyān ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of Abū al-Sawdāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbd Khayr, on the authority of his father, he said: I saw ʿAlī perform the wuḍūʾ and wash the upper part of his feet, and he said: Were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ do that, I would have thought that the underside of the foot has more right (to be washed) than the upper side of it.
8967 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Malik related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, he said: I have not seen anyone wipe over the feet (instead of washing them).
8968 - al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥajjāj ibn al-Minhāl related to me, saying: Ḥammād related to us, on the authority of Qays ibn Saʿd, on the authority of Mujāhid: that he read: and your feet up to the ankles and put it in the accusative, and said: It returns to the washing.
8969 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Jābir ibn Nūḥ related to us, saying: I heard al-Aʿmash recite: and your feet in the accusative.
8970 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ashhab informed us, saying: Mālik was asked about the saying of Allah: and wipe over your heads and your feet up to the ankles — is it [illegible — source text cut off].
