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Wiping the entire head once, passing both hands forward over it and then back.
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Washing the feet, including the ankles, three times.
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The obligation to maintain the prescribed order, demonstrated by the Lawgiver’s placing of the head—which is wiped—between limbs that are washed, thereby highlighting the sequence required for these parts.
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This procedure represents the Prophet’s ﷺ complete ablution.
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It is legislated to perform a prayer after finishing ablution.
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The perfection and completion of the prayer depend on the heart’s presence before Allah Most High. The passage encourages sincerity and warns that a prayer distracted by worldly concerns will not be accepted. If worldly thoughts occur during the prayer and the worshipper drives them away, it is hoped he will still obtain the promised reward.
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The fully-performed ablution is a cause for the forgiveness of sins.
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The reward that has been promised is conditional upon two things together: performing ablution in the manner described and then praying two rak‘ahs in the specified way. It is not attached to either of them alone unless another proof indicates so. The scholars have restricted the forgiveness mentioned here to minor sins; major sins require repentance for their forgiveness. Allah the Exalted says: “If you avoid the major sins you are forbidden, We shall expunge from you your lesser sins” (Q 4:31).
An alternative description of the ablution narrated from ʿAmr ibn Yahyā al-Māzinī
ʿAmr ibn Yahyā al-Māzinī reports from his father: I was present when ʿAmr ibn Abī al-Ḥasan asked ʿAbd Allah ibn Zayd about the Prophet’s ﷺ ablution. He asked for a tūr (1) of water, then demonstrated for them the Prophet’s ablution. He tipped water from the basin onto his hands and washed them three times. He then put his hand into the basin, rinsed his mouth, inhaled water into his nose, and expelled it, three times with three scoops. Next he dipped his hand again and washed his face three times, dipped once more and washed both forearms to the elbows twice, dipped his hands again and wiped his head, bringing them forward and back once only, and finally washed his feet.
(1) A shallow basin or large bowl.