—in which he said: “Whatever hangs below the ankles is in the Fire.” Another parallel case occurred when some of the Companions were careless in washing their feet during ablution, whereupon the Prophet ﷺ declared, “Woe to the heels from the Fire!”

Thus we have three reports from the Sunnah, all confirming that a person may be punished by Fire in a specific limb rather than in the whole body.

The Qur’an affirms the same principle: “On the Day when it will be heated in the Fire of Hell and their foreheads, their flanks, and their backs will be branded with it” (al-Tawbah 9:35). Punishment, then, may be universal, encompassing the entire body, or it may strike only the part that committed the sin.

Among the benefits of this hadith is the clear proof of the Companions’ absolute sincerity in faith. When the people told the man, “Take your ring and make use of it,” he replied, “I will never retrieve a ring the Prophet ﷺ has discarded.” That response sprang from the perfection of his faith; had his faith been weak, he would have kept the ring and profited from it—by selling it, giving it to his family, or the like.

Another benefit is that a person should employ wisdom when correcting a wrong. In dealing with this man, the Prophet ﷺ applied a measure of