For example, if he wipes at twelve o’clock on Tuesday, then when twelve o’clock arrives on Wednesday, the prescribed period has ended and his ablution is invalidated. He must therefore renew his purification by performing a complete ablution. This is how the author, may Allah have mercy on him, stated it.

Yet there is no evidence for this in the Book of Allah, Exalted is He, the sunnah of His Messenger ﷺ, or the consensus of the scholars.

The Prophet ﷺ prescribed a time limit for wiping so that the end of the wiping period would be known—not the end of one’s purification. The correct view is that, when the period has ended while a person remains in a state of purity, his purification is not invalidated. It was established on the basis of legal evidence, and what is established on the basis of legal evidence cannot be invalidated except by further legal evidence. There is no such evidence in this matter, and the basic presumption is that purification remains valid. This was the view chosen by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him (1).

If it is said: Should he not be required to perform ablution as a precaution? …

We reply: Precaution is a broad subject—but what constitutes precaution? Is it adhering to what is easier, adhering to what is stricter, or adhering to what the Sacred Law requires? The last of these is true precaution.

Thus, if we are uncertain whether the Sacred Law requires something or not, the scholars differed, may Allah have mercy on them. Some said: We follow the easier course (2), because the basic presumption is freedom from liability, and because the religion is founded upon ease and facilitation.

Others said: We follow the stricter course (478), because it is more cautious and further removed from doubtful matters.