and inward purification through tawḥīd (monotheism) and repentance, he is ready to enter upon Allah, stand before Him, and address Him.

There is no harm if, after ablution, a person dries his limbs by wiping them with a cloth or something similar.

Know, then, O Muslim, that it is obligatory to perform ablution thoroughly (isbāgh al-wuḍūʾ). This means completing it by washing all the prescribed limbs and allowing the water to flow over every part of each limb, leaving nothing untouched.

The Prophet ﷺ once saw a man who had left a spot the size of a fingernail on his foot unwashed. He said to him, “Go back and perfect your ablution.”

One of the Prophet’s wives related that he ﷺ saw a man praying while a patch about the size of a dirham on his foot had not been reached by water. He ordered him to repeat both the ablution and the prayer, and he ﷺ said, “Woe to the heels from the Fire,” meaning that if any part of them remains dry and the water does not reach it, those heels will be punished by the Fire because of that.