The Ruling on the Extent of Washing the Hands and Feet in Ablution
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Shaykh, may Allah do you good, regarding the hadith of Abu Hurayrah: “Ornament reaches the believer to the extent that the ablution reaches,” does this encourage increasing the washing of the limb?
Answer:
Perhaps it is like what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did, where he would wash up to the upper arm; it is prescribed to wash the upper arm. When he performed ablution, he would wash up to the upper arm, and it is prescribed to wash the lower leg until it includes the ankles and the heels. Abu Bakr interpreted this by extending the ablution to the armpits and the knees, interpreting this hadith in that way. However, the correct position held by the scholars is that the limit is washing the ankles and the heels, up to the upper arm and the lower leg. This is how the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to perform ablution.
Shaykh, may Allah do you good, regarding the hadith of Abu Hurayrah: “Ornament reaches the believer to the extent that the ablution reaches,” does this encourage increasing the washing of the limb?
Answer:
Perhaps it is like what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did, where he would wash up to the upper arm; it is prescribed to wash the upper arm. When he performed ablution, he would wash up to the upper arm, and it is prescribed to wash the lower leg until it includes the ankles and the heels. Abu Bakr interpreted this by extending the ablution to the armpits and the knees, interpreting this hadith in that way. However, the correct position held by the scholars is that the limit is washing the ankles and the heels, up to the upper arm and the lower leg. This is how the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to perform ablution.
Source
التعليق على رياض الصالحين، باب استحباب الاجتماع على القراءة : الأحاديث : [ 1025 - 1027 ] — islamhouse.com (8:52)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.