that are authentic. However, scholars hold three views on the matter:

Some say that the obligation is discharged by wiping the exposed part of the head, while wiping over the turban is recommended. This is the view of al-Shāfiʿī and others.

Others say that the obligation is discharged by wiping over the turban and the exposed part of the head, as in the hadith of al-Mughīrah. Whether this is obligatory because he did it in the hadith of al-Mughīrah, or is not obligatory because he did not command it in the other hadiths, is the subject of two reported positions. This is the well-known view reported from Ahmad.

Still others say that wiping over the turban was permitted only to prevent harm, namely when uncovering the head would cause harm through cold or illness. It would thus be comparable to wiping over a splint, as related in the report that some men were on a military expedition and complained of the cold, so he instructed them to wipe over their warm footwear and head-wraps—the head-wraps being turbans.

It is well known that people in cold countries have a greater need to wipe over warm footwear and head-wraps than people in the Hijaz. The inhabitants of Syria, Byzantine lands, and similar regions therefore have a stronger claim to the concession in both respects than the inhabitants of the Hijaz. Likewise, those who walk over rough, rugged ground have a stronger claim to permission to wipe over their leather footwear than those who walk over smooth ground. The footwear of the former will ordinarily and inevitably suffer damage from stones, so they have a stronger claim than others to the concession allowing wiping over leather footwear with holes in it.