Wiping over the Feet
In the heart of classical Islamic scholarship, Wiping over the Feet (al-Masḥ ʿalā al-Rijlayn) captures a brilliant and methodical theological-legal exchange between two towering jurists of the fourth Islamic century: Shaykh al-Mufīd, a preeminent Shīʿī scholar, and the Ḥanafī judge Abū Jaʿfar al-Nasafī. At stake is a foundational question in Islamic ritual law: Is one obligated to wash the feet in wuḍūʾ (ritual ablution), or is wiping sufficient, as affirmed in Shīʿī jurisprudence?
Shaykh al-Mufīd (d. 413 AH), renowned for his rigorous intellect and mastery of kalām and fiqh, takes on Abū Jaʿfar in a detailed, point-by-point refutation of the claim that washing the feet is obligatory. Rather than launching a polemic, Shaykh al-Mufīd adopts a rationalist and dialectical approach: he grants his opponent's own premises and proceeds to demonstrate how they collapse under their own weight. His logic is crisp, his language measured, and his argumentation rooted both in Qur'anic principles and the ethics of scholarly discourse.
This work is more than a legal debate-it is a study in the methodology of jurisprudence. Shaykh al-Mufīd lays bare critical issues such as:
The status of solitary (āḥād) reports in deriving legal rulings,
The limits of analogy and generalization in sacred law,
The role of linguistic analysis in interpreting ḥadīth,
The boundaries between ritual action and prophetic exemplification.
Notably, the discussion explores the semantics of "wuḍūʾ," the interpretive scope of the Prophet's demonstrative "this," and the broader question of whether prophetic acts automatically entail normative obligation. Shaykh al-Mufīd dismantles arguments based on communal consensus, literal readings of isolated narrations, and flawed analogical reasoning, all while upholding the integrity of rational jurisprudence and the ethos of Islamic debate.
The book also features:
A translator's preface contextualizing the historical and intellectual setting,
A methodological primer on Shaykh al-Mufīd's legal philosophy,
A rare preservation of classical disputation etiquette, highlighting shifts in reasoning, ethical rebuttals, and nuanced interpretations of canonical sources.
Despite its brevity, Wiping over the Feet is a masterclass in classical Islamic argumentation. It remains relevant for students of Islamic law, theology, and textual interpretation-offering not only insights into Shīʿī legal doctrines but also a broader reflection on how Muslims have historically navigated disagreement within a shared scriptural tradition.
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