no distinction between circumstances. They authenticated the reports enjoining ablution after touching it and judged the hadith of Talq ibn ‘Alī to be weak. Some considered it abrogated by Busrah’s hadith. They argued that the obligation to perform ablution derives from revealed law, whereas the statement, “Is it anything but a part of you?” is a rational argument: what is established by reason may be abrogated by revealed law, but revealed law cannot be abrogated by reason. Others interpreted it differently, saying that it contains no explicit statement dispensing with ablution. It could therefore mean that touching it is permissible and that, as with other parts of the body, touching it does not require washing the hands.

Others held that touching the penis does not require ablution at all, without distinction between circumstances. These were the scholars of Iraq. They authenticated Talq’s hadith and judged the reports enjoining ablution after touching it to be weak. They argued that this is a matter affecting people generally: had ablution been obligatory after it, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would have proclaimed this widely to his community. Had he done so, it would not have remained unknown to leading Companions such as ‘Uthmān, ‘Alī, Ibn ‘Abbās, ‘Imrān ibn al-Husayn and others [who denied that touching the penis requires ablution. This argument can be turned against them: if ablution were not obligatory after it, that would not have remained unknown to the leading Companions who held it obligatory, such as ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb, Sa‘īd, Ibn ‘Umar and others] .. Others distinguished between deliberate and inadvertent touching, applying Talq’s hadith to inadvertent touching and the reports enjoining ablution to deliberate touching.

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As for Mālik, may Allah have mercy on him, the reports of his position differ. Ashhab related that he was asked about touching the penis and said, “I do not regard it as obligatory,” refusing to require ablution. When pressed further, he said, “He should repeat the prayer if its prescribed time has not yet elapsed; otherwise, he need not.” Elsewhere, he is reported to have said that whoever touches his penis invalidates his ablution. In al-Mudawwanah, he said that touching it with the inner surface of the hand or fingers invalidates ablution, whereas touching it with the back of the hand or the forearm does not. He expressed two different views concerning inadvertent touching, both transmitted from him by Ibn Wahb in al-‘Utbiyyah. In summary, he held three positions on this issue: first, that ablution is not required after