Al-Shāfiʿī and Ahmad, according to one report from him, held that it is recommended, citing the authentic report that the Prophet performed each act of ablution three times. This wording is general. Sunan Abī Dāwūd also reports that he wiped his head three times. Moreover, the head is one of the parts included in ablution, so repeating its purification three times is prescribed, as with the other parts.
The first view, however, is more correct. The authentic hadiths from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, show that he used to wipe his head only once. For this reason, Abū Dāwūd al-Sijistānī said: “The authentic hadiths of ʿUthmān indicate that he wiped once.” This renders the report he transmitted about wiping three times unsound, for he explains that the authentic account is that the Prophet wiped his head once. This detailed account governs the interpretation of the summary statement:
“He performed each act of ablution three times.”
Similarly, the Prophet’s statement:
“When you hear the muezzin, say what he says,”
is a summary instruction, explained by Ibn ʿUmar’s hadith, according to which, at the calls to prayer and success, one says:
“There is no power and no might except through Allah.”
Thus, a specific, explanatory text governs the interpretation of a general, unelaborated one.
Furthermore, this is wiping, and repetition is not prescribed for wiping, as with wiping over leather socks, wiping in tayammum, and wiping over a splint. Drawing an analogy between one form of wiping and another is more appropriate than drawing an analogy between wiping and washing, for repeated wiping becomes like washing.
The practice of some people—wiping part of the head, or indeed merely part of the hair, three times—is an error that contravenes the agreed-upon Sunnah in two respects. First, wiping only part of the head is contrary to the Sunnah by agreement of the imams. Second, repeating the wiping is contrary to the Sunnah according to the correct view. Even those who recommend repetition—such as al-Shāfiʿī and Ahmad, according to one of his positions—do not say: