and established by mass transmission. As for its contradiction of the Quran, Allah’s words,

“And wipe over your heads, and [wash] your feet up to the ankles,”

have two well-known readings: one with “feet” in the accusative, and the other with it in the genitive.

In the accusative reading, “feet” is coordinated with “faces” and “hands,” so the meaning is: “Wash your faces, your hands, and your feet up to the ankles, and wipe over your heads.” The genitive reading, however, does not mean “wipe your feet,” as some people suppose, for several reasons.

First, those among the early generations who recited it this way said: “The command comes back to washing.”

Second, if it were coordinated with “heads,” the command would be to wipe the feet, not to wipe over them. Yet in ablution and dry ablution, Allah commands wiping over the limb, not simply wiping the limb. Thus, the Most High says:

“And wipe over your heads.”

And He says:

“Then seek clean earth and wipe over your faces and hands with it.”

The recognized Quran reciters did not recite “your hands” in the accusative in the verse concerning dry ablution, as they did in the verse concerning ablution. Were it a matter of coordination, the two passages would be alike.

This is because His words, “And wipe over your heads,” and His words, “And wipe over your faces and hands,” require contact with what is being wiped, since the preposition bā’ denotes contact. This requires water and clean earth to reach the limbs being ritually purified. By contrast, saying, “Wipe your head and your foot,” does not require water to reach the limb.

This demonstrates that bā’ is a particle conveying a specific meaning, not a redundant addition as some people suppose. This contrasts with the following words: