who denied Our signs,” and His words:

“And beware of them, lest they tempt you away from some of what Allah has revealed to you,”

and similar examples—is frequent in the Quran. For the Basran grammarians, this dispenses with the strained claims of the Kufan grammarians that prepositions share meanings.

The same applies to wiping in ablution and tayammum. Had it said simply, “Wipe your heads” or “your faces,” this would not have indicated that anything adheres through wiping. For you may say, “I wiped so-and-so’s head,” even though your hand was not wet. But when it says, “Wipe your heads” and “your faces,” using the preposition bā, wiping is invested with the meaning of making something adhere. It thus conveys that, through this wiping, you make something adhere to your heads and faces. In the verse concerning tayammum, this indicates that earth must adhere to the face and hand. Hence His words:

“Then wipe your faces and hands with some of it.”

Those who permit wiping only part of the head base their position on the hadith. They then differed among themselves. Some said that wiping an area equal to the forelock suffices, as in one report from Ahmad and the position of some Hanafī scholars. Others said that wiping most of the head suffices, as in one report from Ahmad and the position of some Mālikī scholars. Some said that a quarter suffices, while others said an area equal to three fingers; these are two Hanafī positions. Some said three hairs, or part of them, while others said one hair, or part of it; these are two Shāfi‘ī positions.

As for those who require wiping the entire head—such as Mālik and Ahmad, according to the well-known position in