Explanation of the author's statement: "Its obligatory acts are six: washing the face, and the mouth and nose are part of it; washing the hands; and wiping the head, and the ears are part of it."

The Shaykh : He said "Its obligatory acts are six". Its obligatory acts are six. The first is "washing the face". When we say "washing," this excludes wiping; washing is necessary. If you wet your hand with water and say, "I did this to the face," that is not washing. What is washing? The scholars said that washing is when water flows over the limb, flowing over the limb; that is washing. And his saying "the face": the face is that by which the front is achieved, or if you wish, say it is that which faces you of the thing. The boundary of the face in length is from the curve of the forehead to the bottom of the beard, and in width from ear to ear. And our saying "from the curve of the forehead" means the same as some of them saying "from the usual place where the hair of the head grows," because the usual hair of the head reaches the limit of the curve of the forehead. This and that is what achieves the front, because the curve has bent; that is the face. The evidence is the saying of Allah the Exalted: This is the evidence, so Allah the Exalted commanded the washing of the face. Is it obligatory to wash what hangs down of the beard? Yes, according to the madhhab it is obligatory, because the hanging part of the beard achieves the front. Then, if the hair is thin, it is obligatory to let the water reach what is underneath it, and if it is thick, it is sufficient to wash its surface. Second, the author said "and the mouth and nose are part of it". The mouth is part of the face, and the nose is part of the face. Why? Because they are present in it and within its boundary, so they are part of it. Accordingly, rinsing the mouth and sniffing water into the nose are among the obligatory acts of wudu, but they are not independent; they resemble the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): And although the resemblance is not in every respect, it is obligatory for the one performing wudu to rinse his mouth and sniff water into his nose. Second, "washing the hands". The author, may Allah have mercy on him, used the general term, but it must be qualified by what? By the elbows, because when "hand" is used generally, it does not mean anything but the palm. The evidence that when "hand" is used generally it does not mean anything but the palm is the saying of Allah the Exalted: And His saying regarding tayammum: And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not wipe anything in tayammum except the palms. But we must say up to the elbows. Where is the elbow, O 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Dawud?

The questioner : This is it.

The Shaykh : This is it, praise be to Allah. Good, this is the elbow, the joint between the upper arm and the forearm. It is called an elbow from "irtifaq" (leaning), because a person leans on it; it is like the thing on which a sitting person leans. So, the elbows must be included. The evidence is the saying of Allah the Exalted: Second, "and wiping the head, and the ears are part of it". Wiping the head: this is based on the difference between wiping and washing. Wiping does not require water to flow; it is sufficient for a person to dip his hand in water and then wipe the head with it while wet. Allah only obligated wiping for the head, not washing, because washing is difficult for a person, especially in the days of winter, and especially if his hair is thick, for it is certainly difficult for him. Indeed, if the head were washed, the water would run down onto the body, and if the hair is thick, the hair would remain wet for a long time, and this would cause hardship and difficulty for people. And Allah the Mighty and Majestic only wants ease from His servants. Good, wiping the head: where are the boundaries of the head? From the curve of the forehead to the place where the hair grows on the neck from the back; this is in length, and in width from ear to ear. So, the white space between the ears is part of the head, or is it not? I do not know. Is it in the white space between the head and the ears? In the white space? Verify it. Is this white space part of the head? Good, but the author says "and the ears are part of it". And the ears are part of it, meaning part of the head. What is the evidence? The evidence is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was consistent in wiping the ears. As for the hadith: , many scholars weakened it and said that its routes are weak, and because the weakness in it is much, its multiplicity does not raise it to the level of hasan. Some scholars graded it hasan, and some graded it sahih, but we have stronger evidence than this, with no doubt, which is the consistency of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in wiping his ears. And assuming the hadith is authentic: , there is an issue here that we must be aware of, which is when shaving the head in Hajj or 'Umrah, you must shave the hair of your ears, or not? No, it is not obligatory. As long as the ears are part of the head, it is obligatory.

The questioner : What if they have no hair?

The Shaykh : No, they have hair. How? Some people have hair in between, and they differ, but some people have hair on top, and some people have hair in the hollows. And this, when you imagine the state of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in his Hajj and 'Umrah, do you think that he used to shave that, or that the obligated people are told, "All your hair in the hollows of the ear, shave it or shorten it"? The important thing is that if we say the ears are part of the head, then it is necessary to shave the hair on them because they are part of the head. But if we say that the hadith is weak, as Ibn al-Salah and others weakened it, then the issue has been made easy for us.