Ears are wiped only once in ablution

6-12-2017 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalaamu alaykum. In ablution, when rotating the finger in the ears, I know that it should be done only once, but if you do it twice or thrice in one movement, is this ok? May Allah reward you.

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

First of all, it should be noted that the Sunnah is to insert the finger into the ear – when wiping the ears – and not to rotate it.

The Kuwaiti Fiqh Encyclopedia reads, "The Sunnah in wiping the ears is to insert the index fingers into the ears and to wipe the backside of the ears with the thumbs, as Ibn ‘Abbaas, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet wiped his ears, putting his forefingers in his ears and wiping the back of them with his thumbs."

It is disliked to repeat the wiping of the part of the body to which the ruling of wiping applies, including the ear.

The fatwa of the monthly meeting of Ibn ‘Uthaymeen reads:

"How to wipe the ears? Wiping the ears is simple; insert the index finger into the ear opening. Insert it only without turning it, because turning it means repeating the wiping, and pass the thumb over the back of the ear once. It is for this reason that the scholars said, 'It is disliked to repeat wiping the body part that should be wiped (in ablution).' They said, 'Because Allah has made the purity of the ear easy by making it wiping (instead of washing). Since the 'manner' is reduced, then this indicates that reducing the 'quantity' is better. What does quantity mean? It means the number of times of wiping. And manner? It means wiping instead of washing.' So we say: Do not repeat the wiping of the head or the wiping of the ears." 

As for your saying, "But if you do it twice or thrice in one movement, is this ok?", then this is not clear to us. Please clarify it to us so that we can address it.

For more benefit, please refer to fatwas 233323 and 330295.

Allah knows best.