washing, for the very word “wiping” (masḥ) is used in that report for every limb, and such a usage is impermissible by unanimous agreement of the Muslims. Al-Nihāyah states: “Masḥ can refer either to passing the hand over something or to washing it.”

The chain of this narration is sound according to the criteria of al-Bukhārī.

As for ʿAlī’s ḥadith—may Allah be pleased with him—on wiping over the sandals, it was likewise recorded by Ibn Khuzaymah and by Aḥmad ibn ʿUbayd al-Ṣaffār, as cited in Nayl al-Awṭār (1/158). The same subject includes reports from Ibn ʿAbbās, preserved by Ibn Ḥibbān and al-Bayhaqī, as noted in Shaykh al-Islām’s al-Ikhtiyārāt (8), and from Anas, related by al-Bayhaqī.

I say: al-Dūlābī also transmitted it in al-Kunā (2/96) through Humyān ibn Thamāmah al-Zamānī, who said: “Rāshid Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥammānī narrated to me, ‘I saw Anas ibn Mālik perform ablution, wipe over his sandals, and then pray.’”

Regarding Humyān, I have found no biographical entry for him, whereas the rest of the transmitters are trustworthy.

Authentic reports permitting wiping over the sandals are likewise established from Ibn Masʿūd and from ʿAmr ibn Ḥurayth. Both were recorded by al-Ṭabarānī in al-Kabīr; the first chain consists of reliable transmitters, and the second is likewise sound, as stated in al-Majmaʿ.

Al-Awzāʿī held wiping over sandals to be permissible, as did Ibn Ḥazm in al-Muḥallā (2/103). Accordingly, Shaykh al-Islām’s claim in al-Fatāwā (1/266) that “it is impermissible to wipe over them by consensus of the Muslims” is refuted by the evidences we have cited.

What is surprising is that he here interpreted “wiping” as mere “sprinkling,” while elsewhere he said: “Indeed…"