Do you not see that some people rub when they should wash...

Do you not see that some people rub when they should wash and leave where they should rub?”(13) It is narrated that Ikramah said: “The feet should not be washed, but rubbed.”(14) There are a variety of such traditions. In short, so many traditions have been narrated from the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a), the and their followers deem rubbing obligatory.

Regarding the Holy Quran’s stipulation about the obligation of rubbing and also the many traditions some of which are true, is it accurate to issue a verdict as to the obligation of washing the feet in ablution?

If it is said that the ablution verse is downplayed by the traditions, it would be answered: First, the ablution verse is in Al-Ma’idah Chapter, and as we mentioned before, both the Chapter and the honourable verse have been revealed in the last years of the Prophet’s life and, hence, the possibility of cancelling them is little. Second, opposing traditions, as narrated by Fakhr Razi and others, are interrupted (15) traditions, which cannot abrogate the Holy Quran’s verses.

The ultimate solution to the problem of the traditions of washing (the feet) is to ultimately solve the contrast between the traditions stating the washing of the feet (during the ritual ablution) on one hand and the Holy Quran and the traditions stating the rubbing on the other, it is more appropriate to say that in case the traditions narrated from the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a) denoting washing (the feet) are true, they are all from the time before the revelation of the ablution verse, and this honourable Verse and the traditions of the rubbing abrogate them.

Some people have been unaware of this fact and issued verdicts based on the cancelled traditions or believed in the option to wash or rub. Still, some others have obliged both of them. One may say that the obligation of washing is reached by consensus, (16) which cannot be rejected. To answer, there is no such consensus. For abolishing this suspicion, a reference to Islamic jurisprudence books suffices.

Bidayat Al-Hikmah, for instance, stipulates that this is a controversial issue, reading: Scholars have consensus that the feet are among the organs of ablution, but they do not agree on their kind of washing. Some say that they should be washed. These are Sunni scholars. Others say what is obligatory is to rub them. Still, others have said that washing and rubbing are allowed and are up to the individuals (17).