“Wipe part of the head and repeat it.” Rather, they say: “Wipe the entire head and repeat the wiping.”

The imams do not disagree that wiping the entire head once is preferable to wiping part of it three times. Indeed, if wiping part is held to suffice, and a man avails himself of this concession, why would he repeat the wiping?

Moreover, Muslims disagree over whether it is permissible to wipe only part of the head and whether repeating the wiping is recommended. How, then, can one choose a practice that most of them consider insufficient and do not recommend, while abandoning a practice that all of them consider sufficient and most regard as preferable? And Allah knows best.

He was asked:

Is it authentically established that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, wiped his neck during ablution, or that any of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, did so?

He answered:

It is not authentically established that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, wiped his neck during ablution. Indeed, this has not been related from him in any authentic hadith. Rather, the authentic hadiths describing the ablution of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, indicate that he did not wipe his neck. For this reason, the majority of scholars—including Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī and Ahmad, according to the apparent position of their schools—did not recommend it. Those who recommended it relied on a report related from