“Wipe your head except for one-third of it.” Even if the preposition bāʾ could bear both meanings and the matter were unclear, the Messenger of Allah’s practice—peace and blessings be upon him—would resolve the ambiguity: he wiped his entire head and said, “This is the ablution without which Allah accepts no prayer.” The report that the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—wiped only part of his head is anomalous and is not to be acted upon. It is also possible that he did so because of a valid excuse, or when renewing his ablution without having invalidated it.

According to Mālik, one may not wipe over a covering on the head except for a valid reason. Permission to do so has, however, been reported from a number of the early generations, both Companions and Successors. This is the position of al-Thawrī, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Awzāʿī, Abū Thawr, Ishāq ibn Rāhawayh and Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim ibn Sallām. Dāwūd ibn ʿAlī also held this view, on the basis of the reports concerning it and by analogy with wiping over leather socks. The correct position is Mālik’s, for Allah, blessed and exalted is He, says:

“Wipe over your heads.” [al-Māʾidah: 6]

Someone who wipes over a covering has not wiped over his head. The reports concerning this practice from the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—are conflicting. It has been reported that he wiped over his turban but put his hand beneath it. Even if it is established that he wiped over it, he may have done so because of a valid excuse, or when renewing his ablution without having invalidated it. Allah, glorified and exalted is He, knows best.

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As for the words of Allah Most High:

“And your feet up to the ankles” [al-Māʾidah: 6],

people have differed over their recitation. Some read arjulakum in the accusative, coordinating it with “the hands,” while others read arjulikum in the genitive. For those who read arjulakum in the accusative, coordinating it with “the hands,” washing is unquestionably meant. A word may be coordinated either with what immediately precedes it or with something mentioned earlier. This occurs frequently in the Quran and in Arabic speech. One example is Allah Most High’s saying:

“And upon the heir is a similar duty.” [al-Baqarah: 233]

As for the genitive reading arjulikum, scholars offer four explanations. The first is that it is coordinated with “the hands,” but takes the genitive through proximity and grammatical assimilation, as in the expression juhru dabbin kharibin (“a lizard’s ruined burrow”). The following verse has likewise been recited with the genitive:

“A flame of fire and molten copper will be sent against you both.” [al-Rahmān: 35]

The second is that it is