Chapter: The Minimum That Fulfils the Obligation of Wuḍūʾ

The least that suffices for performing wuḍūʾ (ritual ablution) is what the Quran itself has stipulated. Allah, Exalted is He, says: “O you who believe! When you rise for prayer, wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows, and wipe your heads, and wash your feet up to the ankles” (al-Māʾidah 5:6).

The purpose, then, is to cleanse these limbs once—completely—together with the intention previously described, using water that is pure in itself and purifying. He washes his face once, including the sides of the face up to the point where the ears begin, paying attention to the inner part of the nose, the moustache, and the hair on the chin. If he does not wash the portion of the beard that hangs down, it is sufficient that water merely passes over it. He then washes his arms, making sure that the elbows are included. The companions of Mālik differed