- They are the instruments of hearing; thus, it is wise that they be purified so that a person may be cleansed of the sins received through them.
Then he washes his feet, including the ankles. …
His statement, “Then he washes his feet, including the ankles”: the discussion concerning the phrase “including the ankles” is the same as that concerning the phrase “including the elbows.” The word “including” does not conflict with the Quran, for “up to” in Allah’s saying, “up to the ankles” [al-Ma’idah 5:6], means “including,” as indicated by the sunnah. This is shown in the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him: he performed ablution and washed his arms up to and including part of the upper arms, and his feet up to and including part of the shins, and said, “This is how I saw the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, do it.” (1)
Accordingly, the ankles are included in the washing. They are the two protruding bones at the bottom of the shin.
They must therefore be washed. This is the position upon which Ahl al-Sunnah are unanimously agreed, based on Allah Most High’s saying:
“O you who believe, when you rise for prayer, wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows, wipe your heads, and wash your feet up to the ankles.” [al-Ma’idah 5:6]
This is according to the accusative reading of “and your feet,” coordinated with “your faces”; and this is one of the seven canonical readings.
As for the genitive reading, “and your feet,” which is likewise one of the seven canonical readings (2), it may be explained in three ways:
The first is that the genitive case here is due to adjacency: that is, a word follows what is adjacent to it in grammatical form, not in grammatical function. The adjacent word is “your heads,” which is in the genitive case.