Washing the Elbows in Wuḍūʾ

The disagreement

The scholars agreed that:

• Washing the hands and forearms is obligatory in wuḍūʾ, based on Allah’s saying:

﴿وَأَيْدِيَكُمْ إِلَى الْمَرَافِقِ﴾

Meaning:

“And your hands up to the elbows.” (al-Mā’idah: 6)

But they disagreed on one question:

Are the elbows themselves included in the washing, or not?

The opinions

• The elbows must be washed in wuḍūʾ

Abū Ḥanīfah / Mālik / al-Shāfiʿī / Aḥmad

• It is not mandatory to wash The elbows in wuḍūʾ

Some Ẓāhirīs / some later Mālikīs / al-Ṭabarī

Cause of the Disagreement

The disagreement concerns the shared meaning of the particle (إلى) and the shared meaning of the word “hand” in Arabic usage in His saying تعالى:

﴿وَأَيْدِيَكُمْ إِلَى الْمَرَافِقِ﴾

Does “إلى” in the verse means

• Including the limit (معنى مع)?

OR

• Stopping before the limit (معنى الغاية) ?

Evidence of the First Opinion (Elbows must be included)

﴿وَأَيْدِيَكُمْ إِلَى الْمَرَافِقِ﴾

Here (إلى) means “with (مع), ” as in His saying تعالى:

﴿وَلَا تَأْكُلُوا أَمْوَالَهُمْ إِلَى أَمْوَالِكُمْ﴾

Meaning: wash the hands together with the elbows.

And the intended meaning of “hand” here is from the fingertips up to the arm.

Thus this requires extending the washing to the elbows, and anything beyond them is excluded.

• From Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه:

“He washed his right hand until he began washing part of the upper arm, then the left likewise... then he said: Thus, I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ performing wuḍūʾ.” Narrated by muslim

This indicates that the word “hand” includes the elbows.

Evidence of the Second Opinion (Elbows are not included)

• ﴿وَأَيْدِيَكُمْ إِلَى الْمَرَافِقِ﴾

Here (إلى) comes for the end limit and boundary, as in His saying تعالى:

﴿ثُمَّ أَتِمُّوا الصِّيَامَ إِلَى اللَّيْلِ﴾

“Then complete the fast until night.”

Thus the elbow becomes the endpoint at which washing stops, and is not itself included.

And the intended meaning of “hand” here is the palm only.

Therefore washing extends only up to the elbow, without including it. So It is not mandatory to wash The elbows in wuḍūʾ

The preferred opinion

The first opinion: The elbows must be washed with the hands, because the ḥadīth of Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه clarifies what is intended in the verse, showing that the Prophet ﷺ included them in washing. Also, when the endpoint is of the same kind as what precedes it, it enters into the ruling; and the elbow is of the same kind as the hand, so it is included in washing.

References

Bidāyat al-Mujtahid wa Nihāyat al-Muqtaṣid (1/29), al-Hidāyah (1/11), Badā’iʿ al-Ṣanā’iʿ (1/98), al-Maʿūnah (1/18), ʿAqd al-Jawāhir al-Thamīnah (1/32), Wiqāyat al-Ṭālib (1/74), al-Bayān (1/120), al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr (1/339), al-Mughnī (1/172), Sharḥ Ibn Zāḥim (1/66).