Ahmad also recorded the same report (1/120) through Sufyān from him.

Yet Ahmad likewise transmitted it (1/116) via Shurayk from al-Suddī with the wording: “He wiped over the tops of his feet and then said, ‘This is the ablution of one who has not broken his state of purity.’ He went on to say, ‘Had I not seen the Messenger of Allah ﷺ wiping over the tops of his feet, I would have held the soles more deserving of wiping.’”

The same observation that we made about the route through Abū Isḥāq applies here, all the more so because Shurayk’s retention was weak; therefore, the version of Sufyān from al-Suddī is the more reliable.

Ibn ʿAbd Khayr also corroborated this through his father, reporting: “He washed the tops of his feet and said, ‘Had I not seen the Messenger of Allah ﷺ washing the tops of his feet, I would have thought the soles more entitled to washing.’” Ahmad recorded this as well (1/124) through Isḥāq ibn Ismāʿīl: “Isḥāq related to us; Sufyān related to us from Abū al-Sawdaʾ from Ibn ʿAbd Khayr.” He then said, “Isḥāq related to us; Sufyān related to us a second time, saying: I saw ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) perform ablution and wipe over their tops.” This chain is sound. Abū al-Sawdaʾ’s name is ʿAmr ibn ʿImrān, and Ibn ʿAbd Khayr’s name is al-Musayyib; both are trustworthy.

All these reports are clarified by the first narration; otherwise, taken at face value, they would serve as evidence for the Shiʿites.

As for the other narration in Ahmad as well (1/139, 144, 159), transmitted through ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Maysarah from al-Nazzāl ibn Sabrah, stating that he witnessed ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) pray ẓuhr, then sit in the courtyard to attend to people’s needs, and when ʿaṣr approached he was brought a basin, scooped up a handful of water, and wiped his hands, forearms, face, head, and feet…—that report is to be understood as