More ridiculous is that some such fastidious persons think...

More ridiculous is that some such fastidious persons think that the worships of all people are invalid and take them to be negligent in respect of religion, whereas their religious authorities whose instructions they follow are also among the ordinary people. If he is a learned man, let him refer to the Prophet's tradition to see that the Messenger of Allah ( s ) and the Imāms of guidance (' a ) were also like the ordinary people in these matters.

From among all the people only this group of fastidious persons, act contrary to the Messenger of Allah ( s ), the infallible Imāms (' a ), the jurists of religion and the scholars of the ' ummah , regarding the acts of worship of all of them worthless, believing their own to be done according to precaution and that they take good care of religion. Take, for example, the case of the Wudu' . The narratives about the Wudu' of the Messenger of Allah ( s ) are many and successively transmitted.

It seems that the Messenger of Allah ( s ) used a single handful [of water] to wash his face, another for his right hand and a third for his left hand.[^2] The Imāmī faqīh s are unanimous on definitely regarding this Wudu' to be the correct one. The Book of Allah, too, apparently confirms it. As to the second washing, or the second handful, it is objected by some, while there is no harm in the second handful, or the second washing, although its recommendation is questionable.

But the third washing is undoubtedly an innovation and renders the Wudu' invalid, according to both the narration and the fatwā . Now, look at the acts of this helpless fastidious person who is not satisfied with twenty handfuls [of water], each one of which is enough to fully wash the hand and to consider it a “complete wash”. In this case his Wudu' is undoubtedly invalid.

But this wretched, feeble-minded person, who performs this act in obedience to Satan's orders and whispers, thinks that what he does is correct and according to precaution; then, by contrast, he takes the acts of all others to be incorrect and invalid. Here the noble hadīth proves true in respect of calling this man insane.

The one who thinks correct an act, which is contrary to the act of the Messenger of Allah ( s ), and regards an act, which is in conformity with the Prophet's to be incorrect, is either a renegade or an insane. But as this desperate person is not a renegade, he must be insane, obedient to Satan and disobedient to the Beneficent [ ar-rahmān ].