بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Wiping the head three times
Hadīth 1.
عَنْ أَبِي حَيَّةَ، قَالَ قَالَ عَلِيٌّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ أَلَا أُرِيكُمْ كَيْفَ كَانَ نَبِيُّ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَتَوَضَّأُ قُلْنَا بَلَى قَالَ فَأْتُونِي بِطَسْتٍ وَتَوْرٍ مِنْ مَاءٍ فَغَسَلَ يَدَيْهِ ثَلَاثًا . . . وَمَسَحَ بِرَأْسِهِ ثَلَاثًا وَغَسَلَ رِجْلَيْهِ ثَلَاثًا
Abū Hayyah said:
‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) said: Shall I not show you how the Prophet (ﷺ) of Allāh used to do ablution? We said: Yes indeed. He said: Bring me a large vessel and a small vessel of water. He washed his hands three times . . . he wiped his head three times; and he washed his feet three times. (Musnad of Imām Ahmad 1630. Declared Hasan by Al-Arnāūt)
Hadīth 2.
حَدَّثَنِي حُمْرَانُ، قَالَ رَأَيْتُ عُثْمَانَ بْنَ عَفَّانَ تَوَضَّأَ . . . وَقَالَ فِيهِ وَمَسَحَ رَأْسَهُ ثَلاَثًا ثُمَّ غَسَلَ رِجْلَيْهِ ثَلاَثًا ثُمَّ قَالَ رَأَيْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم تَوَضَّأَ هَكَذَا
Humrān narrated: I saw ‘Uthmān b. ‘Affān (رضي الله عنه) performing ablution . . . he wiped his head three times. He then washed his feet three times. He then said : I saw the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) performing ablution in this manner. (Abū Dawūd 107. Declared Hasan Sahīh by Al-Albānī)
Al-Albānī said regarding the narration collected by Abū Dawūd:
It is authentic from the hadīth of ‘Uthmān that the Prophet (ﷺ) wiped his head three times.
Reported by Abū Dawūd with two good chains (hasan) of transmission and there is also a third good chain (hasan) of transmission and I’ve spoken about these chains in some detail in Sahīh Abū Dawūd number 95 & 98. (Tamām al-Minnah pg. 91)
Ibn Mulaqqin said: The people of knowledge agreed that washing thrice for purification is recommended except for the head. What is known from al-Shāfī is that it is (likewise) recommended (i.e. three wipes), contrary to the other three imāms. The evidence for al-Shāfī is what was collected by Abū Dawūd with a good chain of transmission from the hadīth of Humrān on the authority of ‘Uthmān that he (ﷺ) “wiped his head three times”.
From the salaf who held (wiping the head three times): Anas b. Mālik, Sa’īd b. Jubayr, ‘Atā, and Zādhān, and Maysarah. (Abridged, al-‘Ilām bi Fawāid ‘Umdatul-Ahkām 1/345-346. See also al-Awsat of al-Mundhir 2/41)
Al-San’ānī said: Abū Dawūd narrated the hadīth of ‘Uthmān of the three wipings (of the head), from two paths, one of which was authenticated by Ibn Khuzaymah, and that is sufficient to confirm this Sunnah.
This is a Sunnah that can sometimes be done and sometimes left out. (Summarised, Subul-Salām, Sharh Bulūgh al-Marām)
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