The obligatory components of ablution are four:
- Washing the face,
- Washing the hands up to the elbows,
- Wiping the head, and
- Washing the feet up to the ankles.
Allah the Exalted says, “O you who believe! When you stand for prayer, wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows, wipe your heads, and wash your feet up to the ankles” (Q 5:6).
The ears are counted as part of the head, and rinsing the mouth and sniffing water into the nose are counted as part of the face. Thus ablution must purify these four limbs: three are washed and one is wiped.
As for istinjāʾ or istijmār—removing physical filth after relieving oneself—it is a separate matter and has no intrinsic link to ablution. If a person urinates or defecates, cleans himself, then goes about his business, when the time for prayer arrives he need only perform ablution by washing the four prescribed areas; there is no need to repeat the cleaning, for once the impurity has been removed it is not washed away a second time unless it returns.
The sound position is that if someone forgets to perform a proper istijmār yet goes on to make ablution, his ablution remains valid, because istinjāʾ is independent of ablution. However, if he enters a state of major impurity—such as post-coital defilement—he must perform a full ritual bath, covering his entire body with water, in accordance with the verse, “And if you are in a state of major impurity, then purify yourselves” (Q 5:6). That bath must include rinsing the mouth and nose, for they are part of the face and must be cleansed just as the forehead, cheeks, and beard are cleansed. The obligatory ghusl is fulfilled once water has reached the entire body, whether one begins