and with the principles of Ahmad’s school and those of others. This is because the evidence establishing its obligation applies only to someone who is negligent, not to someone unable to maintain continuity. The principal evidence in this matter is the hadith narrated by Abū Dāwūd and others, from Khālid ibn Maʿdān, from one of the Companions of the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him:

“He saw a man praying with a patch the size of a dirham on the top of his foot that the water had not reached. The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—ordered him to repeat his ablution and prayer.”

This concerns a particular incident, and the person ordered to repeat his ablution was negligent: he could have washed that patch just as he could wash the rest. It remained unwashed only because he had neglected it and had not attended carefully to his entire ablution. His case resembles that of those who performed ablution while their heels remained visibly dry, to whom he called out at the top of his voice:

“Woe to the heels from the Fire!”

Likewise, the hadith in Sahīh Muslim, narrated from ʿUmar, states:

“A man performed ablution but left an area the size of a fingernail unwashed on his foot. The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—noticed it and said, ‘Go back and perform your ablution properly.’ He went back and then prayed.”

Narrated by Muslim.

Those performing ablution frequently neglect to wash the whole foot. Indeed, many misguided people have come to believe that it is not to be washed: one group among the Shīʿah holds that the obligation is to wipe its upper surface, while one group among the Muʿtazilah allows a choice between wiping and washing.

Those who do not regard continuity as obligatory rely principally on a report from Ibn ʿUmar:

“He performed ablution [washing his face and hands and wiping his head. Then he was called to offer the funeral prayer; when he entered the mosque, he wiped over his leather socks and then offered the funeral prayer] (1).