Prolonging the Brightness in Washing the Limbs In Ablution

9-5-2019 | IslamWeb

Question:

Is it permissible to wash a little bit more when doing wudhu ?, example when i wash my foot, the limit is the top end of ankle, but i wash a bit more than that just to be sure that all that has to be washed are washed.

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The view of the majority of the scholars is that it is desirable for the person who performs ablution to wash what exceeds the limits of the body part that must be washed in ablution, contrarily to the view of the Maliki School of jurisprudence.

The Fiqh Encyclopedia reads:

“What is meant by prolonging the washing of the body parts that must be washed in ablution: is to wash what exceeds the Waajib (obligation) from the face; i.e. washing more than the specified limit.

This is the view of the Hanafi, Shaafi'i and Hanbali Schools of jurisprudence.

According to the Shaafi'i School of jurisprudence, it is one of the recommended acts in ablution (Sunnan acts). They provided evidence about this by the saying of the Prophet which reads: “My people will come on the Day of Resurrection with bright faces, hands, and feet from the traces of ablution. If anyone of you can prolong his brightness, let him do so”. [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]

Prolonging the brightness is to wash more than the obligation from the hands and feet.

As regards the Hanbali School, they consider that washing what exceeds the limits of washing the face, hands, and feet, that they are among the desirable acts of ablution. The Maaliki School is of the view that it is not desirable to prolong the washing of the parts of the body that must be washed in ablution; rather, this is something disliked in their view and they consider this as an exaggeration in religion.” [End of quote]

Therefore, what you do is correct according to the view of most scholars.

Allah knows best.