or for some other interpretive consideration, as you will see—God willing—clarified in Sūrah al-Māʾidah.

The Shīʿī who maintains that the feet are to be wiped in ablution retorts: “On the contrary, the genitive reading is explicit about wiping the feet; it therefore shows that the accusative reading is merely conjunction to the syntactic position, because the genitive phrase bi-ruʾūsikum (‘over your heads’) is itself in the accusative slot.”

We reply: the sound Sunnah confirms the soundness of our explanation and the invalidity of yours, as in his words, peace and blessings be upon him, “Woe to the heels from the Fire,” together with other authentic narrations that clearly impose washing the feet in ablution.

We may add: even if we were to concede that the genitive reading wa arjulikum (“and your feet”) intends wiping, that wiping would apply only when khuffs (leather socks) are being worn. For the one upon whom the Qur’an was revealed—peace and blessings be upon him—was addressed with the verse, “And We have sent down to you the Reminder so that you may clarify to the people what has been sent down to them” (16:44), and he never wiped his feet in ablution except over khuffs. Accordingly, the accusative reading establishes the obligation of washing them, whereas the genitive reading indicates the permissibility of wiping over khuffs. You will, God willing, find this issue fully examined in its proper place under Sūrah al-Māʾidah.

An illustration of the second of the three cases mentioned is our statement that the stronger opinion regarding the term qurūʾ in His words “three qurūʾ” (2:228) is that it denotes periods of purity. The evidence is His saying, “then divorce them for their prescribed waiting period” (65:1); the time at which divorce is commanded is one of purity, not menstruation, which indicates that the waiting period is reckoned by purity. Supporting this is the sound Sunnah, as in his words, peace and blessings be upon him, in the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿUmar: “That is the waiting period that Allah commanded women to be divorced for.” The demonstrative “that” refers to the time of purity in which the divorce occurred, which is an explicit statement by the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—that purity constitutes the waiting period. The feminine tāʾ in thalāthata qurūʾ (“three qurūʾ”) likewise points to this, as mentioned earlier.

Those who hold that qurūʾ means menstrual periods also cite evidence from both the Qur’an and the Sunnah.