is washed in its entirety. The head is not washed, nor does it bear the radiant mark of the face. Extending the radiant markings of the hands and feet is not recommended; extending them is a disfigurement.

Likewise, Ibn Umar would take care to travel along the routes taken by the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and stop where he had stopped. During his travels, he would perform ablution wherever he had seen him perform it, and pour his remaining water over a tree over which the Prophet had poured his. Some scholars regarded these and similar practices as recommended, but the majority did not. Nor did the leading Companions, such as Abū Bakr, Umar, Uthmān, Alī, Ibn Masʿūd, Muʿādh ibn Jabal and others, consider them recommended or practise them. They did not do what Ibn Umar did. Had they considered it recommended, they would have done it, for they were intent on following the Prophet and emulating him.

This is because following him means doing what he did in the manner in which he did it. If he performed an act as worship, it is prescribed for us to perform it as worship. If he intended to single out a particular place or time for worship, we likewise single it out for that purpose. Thus, he deliberately circumambulated the Kaʿba, touched the Black Stone and prayed behind the Station of Abraham. He would take care to pray beside a particular pillar in the mosque in Medina. He deliberately ascended al-Safā and al-Marwa and offered supplication and remembrance of Allah there. The same applies to Arafat, Muzdalifa and other places.

As for what he did incidentally, without deliberately choosing it—such as stopping at a place and praying there because he had stopped there, rather than intending to single it out for prayer and stopping—if we deliberately single out that place for prayer or stopping, we are not following him. Rather, this is among the innovations that