Stairs to Bliss - by Imam Shurunbulali (rahmatullahi alaihi)
The Book of Taharah - Requisites of Wudu

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Translation
The necessary requisites (faraid) of wudu are four:
1) washing the face (once). The face is defined in length by the area between the top of the forehead to the bottom of the chin for one who does not have a thick beard and to the outer surface of the beard (for one who has a thick beard). In width, the face is defined as the area between the two earlobes irrespective of the beard.
2) washing the arms with the elbows (once)
3) wiping one-fourth of the head (once)
4) washing both feet with the ankles (once)

Commentary
Just as physical substances assume states of purity and impurity, the body also assumes one of three states; taharahh (purity), al-hadth al-asghar (minor ritual impurity), and al-hadth al-akbar (major ritual impurity). Minor ritual impurity is the state entered by the nullifiers of wudu and major ritual impurity is that state which necessities a legal bath. This section deals with removing the state of minor ritual impurity.

Allah (swt) states, "O you who believe, when you stand for prayers wash (once) your faces, your arms to the elbows, and wipe (once) your heads, and wash (once) your feet to the ankles." (Chapter 5, Verse 6)
This verse of the Holy Qur'an establishes the four fard (required) acts of wudu. Omission of any of these integrals renders the wudu invalid. According to the Hanafi jurists, only a definite command from a definite source can establish an act as fard. The definite sources for the Hanafis are the Quran, the ahadith mutawatirah, and ijma'. Here a definite source, the Qur'an, commands a series of actions, making them fard.

Leaving a fard is a sin, while denying a fard is an act of disbelief. That is, someone who doesn't perform wudu is a sinner, however, if someone outright denies wudu as part of Islam, he in essence has denied a verse of the Qur'an and therefore, enters a state of disbelief (kufr).

The first of these integrals is washing the face once (once is fard while three times is sunnah). The face is defined linguistically as that area which is seen when facing someone. This includes the area between the earlobes in width and from the top of the forehead to bottom of the chin in length. For those areas of the face covered with hair such that the underlying skin is not visible, washing the overlying hair suffices. This includes eyebrows and the hair of a thick beard. If the beard is so thin that the underlying skin is visible, then the skin must be washed when making wudu.

The second of the integrals is washing the arms to the elbows once. This includes the beginning of the fingertips to the elbow.

Hypothetical Case: Special care should be taken when wearing nail polish as its creates a water resistant film which prohibits water from reaching the mandatory surfaces of the finger nails.

The third is wiping one-fourth of the area of the head once. The grammatical construction of the verse of wudu implies that wiping the entire head is not mandatory. Furthermore, the Prophet (saw) wiped as little as the front of his scalp (approximately one-fourth of his head) on occasion. Thus, because the Prophet (saw) would never leave a fard, the minimal area of the head which must be wiped is one-fourth. Wiping of the entire head is sunnah.
The final required act of wudu is washing the feet including the ankles. Again, washing once is required while washing three times is sunnah. Special care should be taken when washing the posterior side of the ankles as this area is easily missed. Once, when his companions were hurriedly making ablution, the Prophet (saw) stated, "Woe to the heals, save them from the hell fire."

Note that each of the above four acts is required only once. Washing any body part three times is considered sunnah. This is established by the fact that the Qur'an makes a single command, which in turn, can be fulfilled by a single washing of each body part listed. This is further supported by the narration of Abdullah ibn Abbas that the Prophet (saw) made wudu (on occasion) washing each body part only once.

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