Continuation of the explanation of the author's statement: "And it is required that there be three cleansing wipes or more, even if with a stone having branches."

The Shaykh :"And it is required that there be three cleansing wipes" "Three" is in the nominative case as the substitute for the agent, and "three" in the accusative case is not correct. The word "condition" in language means a sign. As for in the Shari'ah, the condition in language is a sign, and from this is the saying of Allah the Exalted: And as for in technical terminology, it is that whose absence necessitates absence, and whose presence does not necessitate presence. He says "it is required," meaning that for istijmar and its sufficiency in place of water, three cleansing wipes are required. Three wipes on the entire area. He specified this because some of the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) said that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) required three stones so that there would be one stone for the right side, one stone for the left side, and one stone for the ring of the anus. According to this opinion, the wiping for each part would be one wipe. But this is not correct. The correct view is that it is three cleansing wipes that cover the area. It has been mentioned previously that cleansing means that a trace remains which only water can remove, or that the stone returns not wet, but dry. He says: "or more" More than three. How is it that three or more are required? If someone says, "This is a contradiction: three or more, so what is the relied-upon number?" We say that the meaning of the statement is that it must not be less than three. Three, if they cleanse; or more, if the three do not cleanse, because it may not cleanse with three wipes, but only with four, five, or six. The evidence for this is the previously mentioned hadith of Salman. He says: "even if with a stone having branches" "Even if" indicates a difference. "With a stone" means it is valid. "Branches" are the sides of the branch. The side means: even if with a stone that has sides, one wipes from one side once, from another side once, and from another side once. These are three wipes. Some of the scholars said that three stones are necessary. Three stones are necessary, relying on the apparent meaning of the evidence, because the apparent meaning of the evidence is three stones, and that we perform istinja with less than three stones. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came with two stones, he said: This indicates that three stones are necessary. So whoever adheres to the apparent meaning says that three stones are necessary: we perform istijmar with one stone and throw it away, take a second and throw it away, and take the third. Because this is more perfect, without doubt, more perfect in purity. Since a stone with branches may have something from the first wipe on one of the sides, and you did not know about it, so the stones, each stone separate, are better. And whoever looks at the meaning, and the Shari'ah is all meaning, causes, and rulings, says that a stone with branches is like the three stones, if the branches are not interlocking such that when we wipe with one branch, the impurity connects to the other branch. If each branch is distinct from the other, then it suffices. And this is the correct view, because the Shari'ah is meanings, not just words.