Questions

(salam)

In al-Maidah : 6 it says to wipe (imsa5 not i5sil) your head and your feet, so why is the Zaydi opinion that we should wash and not wipe our feet?

thank you,

Wa alaikum Salam wa rahmatullah,

The Verse:

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِذَا قُمْتُمْ إِلَى ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ فَٱغْسِلُوا۟ وُجُوهَكُمْ وَأَيْدِيَكُمْ إِلَى ٱلْمَرَافِقِ وَٱمْسَحُوا۟ بِرُءُوسِكُمْ وَأَرْجُلَكُمْ إِلَى ٱلْكَعْبَيْنِ ۚ

The position of the Ahl al Bayt is that “wipe” is grammatically connected to the head while the following words “and your feet to the ankles” is grammatically connected to “wash”. (It’s about the object of the verbs pay attention on the irab, al jarr wa al Nasb) So the Quran is actually very clear on this subject. It is about the Sunnah were the ikhtilaf occurs and our Ulama maintain that Ali and the Ahl al Bayt alayhimus salam knew better than anyone else which is the right practice.

Wa salamu alaikum wa rahmatullah

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It has a huge library.

(salam)

sorry brother (Ibn Kamal), could you elaborate a bit?


(Thank you Zulfiqiar, Imam Rassi Society, and Ibn Kamal for your help)

wa alaikumu s salam wa rahmatullah,

your welcome.

about what i said:
grammatically speaking, the verse mentioned contains 2 verbs that refer to different accusative objects.

the mentioned verbs are: ٱغْسِلُوا۟ and وَٱمْسَحُوا۟

These two verbs are linked to different body parts. The first, ٱغْسِلُوا۟ (wash), applies to وُجُوهَكُمْ (your faces) and أَيْدِيَكُمْ (your hands) up to the elbows. The second verb, وَٱمْسَحُوا۟ (wipe), applies to بِرُءُوسِكُمْ (your heads).

The verb ٱمْسَحُوا۟ (amsaḥū, "wipe") is followed by بِ (bi-) in بِرُءُوسِكُمْ.

This preposition "بِ" (bi-) specifically connects "wiping" to the head.

In the phrase وَأَرْجُلَكُمْ إِلَى ٱلْكَعْبَيْنِ ("and your feet to the ankles"), أَرْجُلَكُمْ is in the accusative case (marked by "ـَ" or fatḥa on "أَرْجُلَ") instead of the genitive like with بِرُءُوسِكُمْ.

If أَرْجُلَكُمْ (your feet) were directly linked to the command "wipe," it would be بِأَرْجُلِكُمْ (bi-arjulikum) , and it would be matching the preposition and case used for بِرُءُوسِكُمْ (your heads).

The absence of بِ and the application of the accusative case on أَرْجُلَكُمْ aligns the feet with ٱغْسِلُوا۟ (wash), not ٱمْسَحُوا۟ (wipe).

about the Sunnah: There are different riwayat on this subject and thats why there is a difference of opinion in the ummah, but we zaydis follow the command on holding onto the quran and the ahl al bayt, so if there is a ikhtilaf we look into the practice of the ahl al bayt alayhi as salam, and from that we know that we have to wash them and not wipe them.

wa salamu alaikum wa rahmatullah