for which intention is required, unlike the removal of physical impurity, for which intention is not required except according to a weak opinion adopted in dialectical debate, as mentioned by Abū al-Khattāb and those who followed him. That opinion has no merit. It may therefore be said that the requirement of continuity is the same in both.

If the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, squeezed water onto the unwashed spot after the body had dried in moderate weather, whereas this is not permissible in ablution, the distinction is that someone who leaves a spot on his foot unwashed has been negligent. This is unlike someone bathing to remove major ritual impurity, who cannot see his body as he can see his feet. If the unwashed spot is on his back, or somewhere he can neither see nor reach, he is excused for leaving it unwashed. Continuity was therefore not required in his case, unlike cases in which there is no excuse. Allah knows best.

On this basis, it would be reasonable to hold that the prescribed order is waived when there is a valid excuse. The report concerning postponing the rinsing of the mouth and nose beyond washing the face—one of the two expressly transmitted positions—may also be understood on this basis: the person who omitted them did not know that they were obligatory and was therefore excused for omitting them. Consequently, the prescribed order was not required in that case, unlike the case of someone without an excuse, such as one who reverses the order of washing the external parts of the body.

A comparable case, however, is that of a recent convert to Islam who believes that ablution consists of washing the hands and feet and therefore washes only those; or someone who omits washing his face or arms because of an injury or illness, washes the remaining parts required for ablution, and then finds that his excuse has ceased before his ablution has been invalidated. In such cases, it would be reasonable, on this principle, to say that he should wash what he initially omitted, and that his failure to observe the prescribed order does not matter. Allah knows best.