Washing What Hangs Down from the Beard

The disagreement

The scholars agreed that washing the face — in general — is among the obligations of wuḍūʾ, due to His saying تعالى:

﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا قُمْتُمْ إِلَى الصَّلَاةِ فَاغْسِلُوا وُجُوهَكُمْ﴾

[al-Mā’idah: 6]

And they agreed on the obligation of washing the ظاهر (outer part) of the face.

They differed regarding washing what hangs down from the beard into two opinions.

The opinions

• It is obligatory to wash what hangs down from the beard

Mālik / al-Shāfiʿī / Aḥmad

• It is not obligatory to wash what hangs down from the beard

Abū Ḥanīfah / al-Shāfiʿī (another narration)

Reason for the disagreement

Does what hang down from the beard fall under the name of the face (so it is included), or not?

First Openion

• The name “face” includes what hangs down from the beard, as it is part of what is normally confronted (facing). (ما يحصل به المواجهة)

Second Openion

• what hangs down from the beard is خارج عن محل الفرض (outside the area of obligation), like hanging hair from the head; therefore, it is not obligatory to wash it, as it is outside the محل الفرض.

The preferred opinion

The first opinion:

It is obligatory to wash what hangs down from the beard, because it is included in what is faced (the face).

Practical Effect of the Disagreement

• According to the first opinion:

Wuḍūʾ is not valid for one who does not wash what hangs down from the beard.

• According to the second opinion:

Wuḍūʾ is valid for one who does not wash what hangs down from the beard.

References

Bidāyat al-Mujtahid wa Nihāyat al-Muqtaṣid (1/28), Badā’iʿ al-Ṣanā’iʿ (1/97), Fatḥ al-Qadīr (1/12), Jāmiʿ al-Ummhāt (p. 48), Mawāhib al-Jalīl (1/262), al-Ḥāwī al-Kabīr (1/130), al-Bayān (1/118), al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr (1/333), al-Mughnī (1/164), Sharḥ Ibn Zāḥim (1/61).