The Meaning of Allah’s Saying: “And Your Feet to the Ankles” and the Explanation of the Readings with the Accusative and Genitive Cases

The Shaykh : Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said: Here I ask you: is it “wa-rijal_akum” (and your feet, accusative) or “wa-rijal_ikum” (and your feet, genitive)? What is it? Yes, and what is in the mushaf that is in our hands? It is “wa-rijal_akum” with an open alif (fathah). In that case, the followers of Sibawayh, who are the people of grammar, will ask how you say it, or how the reading is “wa-rijal_akum,” when what comes before it is in the genitive case, “bi-ru’usikum” (with your heads). It is known that the conjoined word follows the word it is conjoined to. How is this? We say that the conjunction here is not to “ru’us” (heads); the conjunction here is to “wujuh” (faces). “Wash your faces,” not “your hands,” right? No, this is a benefit that the people of grammar should know. The conjunction is to the first of the things being conjoined. So if I said, “Zayd, ‘Amr, Bakr, and Khalid stood up,” then Khalid is conjoined to Zayd, the first of the things being conjoined. Here we say that “wa-rijal_akum” is conjoined to “wujuh_akum” (your faces), my brother, to “wujuh_akum,” because that is the first of the things being conjoined. Good, fine. We say: The ankles are the two prominent bones at the bottom of the lower leg. But do the ankles enter into the washing? The answer is yes, based on the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, which is established in Sahih Muslim: So the ankles are included in the washing. How many limbs are purified in wudu? You need to pause, my brothers. Are you performing wudu for the Maghrib prayer? Yes, good. Let’s see. One person says seven, one says six, and one says four. Good. The one who distinguishes might say six or more. After we distinguish, we said: the face, the nose, the mouth, the right hand, the left hand, the head, the two ears, the right leg, and the left leg. How many is that? Nine. But the scholars do not distinguish this level of detail. They say that the limbs are only four: the face, which includes rinsing the mouth and sniffing water into the nose; the two hands, right and left; the head, which includes the two ears; and the two legs, right and left. Yes, so they are four limbs. Good. Why did we start with the right before the left? Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says: We said because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to start with the right before the left. Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: Good. A questioner asked: In wiping the ears, do I start with the right or the left? You wipe them both together. Why? Because they are one limb. The two ears are one limb, but the right and left hands are separate. As for the two ears, they are one limb because they are part of the head. But suppose a person among the people cannot wipe them both together because he cannot wipe with his other hand. With which does he start? With the right. May Allah reward you. Good. There is a correct sevenfold reading: “rijal_ikum” with a kasrah (genitive). And we know that the legs are washed. So do we say that the two readings are like two attributes, meaning that it is permissible to wash the legs and it is permissible to wipe the legs? Or what do we derive from this reading? Because the reading is established from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). “Rijal_akum.” Do you understand now? Understood. Yes, half and half. If we say: “rijal_ikum,” it is conjoined to “ru’us” (heads), and this implies that the leg is to be wiped, is that not so? So do we apply the two readings as two attributes, meaning that it is permissible to wash the legs and it is permissible to wipe them? Yes? No, this is not correct, because not a single letter has come from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that he wiped his legs while they were exposed. On the contrary, when he saw his Companions one day and the time for the ‘Asr prayer had come, and he found them wiping over their legs and some of their feet where the water had not reached, he called out at the top of his voice: Because they had not completed the wudu. So what is the explanation of the two verses? The scholars differed on that. Some took a path that may have a basis in the Arabic language and said that this is from the category of proximity (muqaranah), and that it occurred in wording, but in ruling it is in the accusative case. And some said, rather, the two readings are applied as two attributes according to the state of the leg. Pay attention: the two readings are applied as what? Two different attributes according to the state of the leg. If the leg is covered by a leather sock or a woolen sock, what is its obligation? Wiping. And if it is exposed, its obligation is washing. They said, and so the Sunnah came. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would wipe his legs when he wore leather socks, wiping over them, and he would wash them when they were exposed. And this opinion is the stronger opinion. So the verse is applied as two different attributes according to the state of the leg.