Washing the Limbs Three Times, and Whether the Head Is Wiped Three Times

F78Chapter on the Description of the Ablution

Washing the Limbs Three Times, and Whether the Head Is Wiped Three Times

What is the ruling on washing the limbs three times in the ablution, and is the head likewise wiped three times?

Hanafi

Washing the limbs three times — the face, the arms and the feet — is an emphasised sunnah; the head, however, is wiped once, and exceeding three is disliked.

Reference: Al-Hidāyah — Radd al-Muḥtār — Tabyīn al-Ḥaqāʾiq

Maliki

Washing the limbs three times — the face, the arms and the feet — is recommended, and exceeding that is disliked; the head is wiped once, and wiping it three times is disliked.

Reference: Al-Mudawwanah — Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr — Mawāhib al-Jalīl

Shāfiʿī

Doing all the acts of the ablution three times is a sunnah, both the washing and the wiping: the limbs are washed three times and the head and ears are wiped three times.

Reference: Al-Umm — Minhāj al-Ṭālibīn — Al-Majmūʿ

Hanbali

Washing the limbs three times — the face, the arms and the feet — is a sunnah, but wiping the head three times is not: it is wiped once, and exceeding three is disliked.

Reference: Al-Mughnī — Al-Kāfī — Kashshāf al-Qināʿ