not seen any difference of opinion regarding it, and it is the school of al-Shafi'i, Abu Thawr, and Abu 'Ubayd. Abu al-Khattab narrated another report from Ahmad that it is not mandatory. This is the school of Malik, al-Thawri, and the People of Opinion (Ashab al-Ra'y). It was also narrated from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab, 'Ata', and al-Hasan. It is narrated from 'Ali, Makhul, al-Nakha'i, al-Zuhri, and al-Awza'i, regarding one who forgets to wipe his head and sees moisture in his beard: that he wipes his head with it, and they did not order him to repeat the washing of his feet. Ibn al-Mundhir chose this view, because God Almighty commanded the washing of the members and joined some of them to others with the conjunction 'wa' (and), which does not necessitate sequence, so however he washed, he would be complying. It is narrated from 'Ali and Ibn Mas'ud: "I do not care which of my members I begin with." Ibn Mas'ud said: "There is no harm in starting with your feet before your hands in wudu'." Our evidence is that there is a context in the verse indicating that sequence was intended by it; for He inserted a member to be wiped between two members to be washed, and the Arabs do not disconnect an equivalent from its counterpart except for a purpose, and the purpose here is sequence. If it is said: "Its purpose is the recommendation (istihbab) of sequence," we say: The verse was not presented except to state what is mandatory; for this reason, it does not mention any of the Sunnahs in it. Also, whenever the wording necessitates sequence, it is commanded, and a command necessitates obligation. Furthermore, everyone who narrated the wudu' of the Messenger of God - may God bless him and grant him peace - narrated it in sequence, and he is the interpreter of what is in the Book of God Almighty; he performed wudu' in sequence and said: "This is a wudu' without which God does not accept prayer" (1), meaning: by its like. As for what was narrated from 'Ali and Ibn Mas'ud, Ahmad said: They only meant the left before the right, because their origin in the Book is one. Then Ahmad said: Jarir narrated to us, from Qabus, from his father, that 'Ali was asked, and it was said to him: "One of us hastens, so he washes something before another?" He said: "No, until it is as God Almighty commanded." The other report from Ibn Mas'ud is not known to have a source.

Section: Sequence is not mandatory between the right and the left; we know of no disagreement regarding this, because their origin in the Book is one. God Almighty said: {and your hands} and {and your feet}.