Step 8 of 12
Wiping the Ears
After the head, wipe both ears once: put your index fingers into the inside of the ears and wipe the folds, and wipe the backs of the ears with your thumbs.
The Prophet ﷺ wiped his ears inside and out together with his head, and a hadith describes the ears as part of the head.
Most of the schools see wiping the ears as a sunnah; the Hanbali school treats it as part of the obligation of wiping the head.
The four schools differ on some details. Show them
Each school's ruling, with the schools that share it named together.
Is wiping the ears obligatory?
3 of 4 schools agree. Differing: Hanbali.
Show each school
- SunnahHanafi · Maliki · Shafi'i
- Obligatory (fard)Hanbali
- Hanafi
- Wiping the ears is a sunnah, done with the same water used for the head.
- Maliki
- Wiping the ears is a sunnah, and taking fresh water for them is another sunnah.
- Shafi'i
- Wiping the ears is a sunnah, done with fresh water rather than the water left from the head.
- Hanbali
- In the relied-upon view the ears are part of the head and are wiped with it as part of that obligation; another narration from Imam Ahmad holds that it is a sunnah.
- Jami' al-Tirmidhi 36Graded by Ahmad Muhammad Shakir: Hasan Sahih · Al-Albani: Hasan Sahih · Bashar Awad Maarouf: Hasan Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: SahihSahih
- Jami' al-Tirmidhi 37Graded by Ahmad Muhammad Shakir: Sahih · Al-Albani: Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: HasanSahih
- Sunan Ibn Majah 443Graded by Al-Albani: Sahih · Muhammad Fouad Abd al-Baqi: Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: HasanSahih
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
The positions of the four schools are summarised from their standard references and are pending review by a qualified scholar. Follow the school you were taught, and for your own situation, ask a scholar.
Create a free account to keep your place as you go. Create a free account · Sign in