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In the previous report the wording is, “then he wiped over his head.” Such a phrase could be construed as wiping only part of the head, just as some have interpreted the verse, “and wipe over your heads.” In the present narration, however, it states explicitly that he wiped the whole head and details the manner in which he did so. As one legal text clarifies another, this shows—just as mentioned earlier—that wiping the entire head is obligatory.
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Both narrations state, with regard to rinsing the mouth and nose, that he dipped one hand into the water. In the wording at hand it further states that he immersed both hands when washing them and that he wiped the head with both hands, moving them forward and back once. Abū Dāwūd observed: “All the sound collections indicate that the head is wiped once only.” Ibn al-Mundhir said: “What is firmly established from the Prophet ﷺ concerning wiping is that it is done once.”
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Although the ḥadīth expressly mentions washing the feet, that point is omitted here. Because washing the feet is among the unanimously agreed-upon obligations, their omission in this version does not imply that washing them is not compulsory.
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From this it is understood that the limbs in wudu (ablution) may differ in the number of washings, that washing three times is the complete form, and that anything less is still valid, as sound narrations confirm.
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Scholars have disagreed about where the wiping should begin. Ibn Daqīq al-ʿĪd and al-Ṣanʿānī consider it to start at the front of the head and proceed to the back, whereas others, taking the phrase “he moved them forward and back,” understand it to begin at the back of the head and then return the hands to the nape.
Commendation of Beginning with the Right in Honorable and Pleasant Matters
ʿĀʾisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ loved to start with the right when putting on his sandals, combing his hair, performing wudu (ablution), and in all of his affairs.”
Unfamiliar expressions
- “He liked al-tayammun” (starting with the right): he preferred giving precedence to the right side over the left. Al-Ṣanʿānī said: Every act loved by Allah or His Messenger indicates its legitimacy, whether as an obligation or a recommendation.
- “in his tanaʿʿul”: when putting on his sandals.
- “and his tarajjul”: combing the hair of his head and beard with a comb.