The Minimum Extent of Wiping the Head

Basis of Disagreement:

Scholars agree that wiping the head is among the obligations of wudu due to Allah's saying: ﴿وَامْسَحُوا بِرُءُوسِكُمْ﴾ [Surah Al-Ma'idah, 6]. They agree that the apparent meaning indicates wiping the entire head. However, they differ on the minimum required extent of wiping the head. The disagreement has two opinions.

The opinions

• First opinion:The obligation is to wipe part of the head (but they differ how much: some say 3 hairs, some say ¼, etc.)

Abu Hanifah / Al-Shafi'i.

Second opinion

Malik / Ahmad.

Reason for the disagreement

The meaning conveyed by the particle "ba" (ب) in Arabic as used in Allah's saying ﴿وَامْسَحُوا بِرُءُوسِكُمْ﴾ whether it indicates part (التبعيض) or not.

The first opinion holds that the “بـ” in ﴿وَامْسَحُوا بِرُءُوسِكُمْ﴾ is for التبعيض, meaning partiality, so it suffices to wipe part of the head, even a small portion; they support this with linguistic usage and the ḥadīth:

«أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ تَوَضَّأَ فَمَسَحَ بِنَاصِيَتِهِ وَعَلَى العِمَامَةِ». Narrated by Muslim

The second opinion maintains that the “بـ” is either زائدة (for emphasisor للإلصاق, not for التبعيض, thus the command remains general and includes the whole head.

Impact of Disagreement:

The wudu of one who does not wipe the entire head is invalid.

References

Al-Taghyir (1/35), Tanbih al-Haqa'iq (1/32), Al-Taghyir (1/19), Al-Mu'inah (1/79), Al-Bayan (1/124), Al-Shar'i al-Kabir (1/348), Al-'Ini (1/175), Sharh Ibn Zahim (1/66)