What is the ruling on washing dense versus sparse facial hair during ablution?
Chapter on the Obligation of Purification
Al-Mughni
Book of Purification
Primary text
If the facial hair is dense and does not reveal the skin beneath, washing the exterior of the hair suffices. If the hair is sparse and reveals the skin, washing the skin beneath is obligatory along with the hair. If some hair is dense and some sparse, the skin of the sparse areas and the exterior of the dense areas must be washed. This is indicated by Ahmad (may God have mercy on him).
Supporting text
Some scholars hold a different view regarding the mustache, *ʻunfuqah*, eyebrows, eyelashes, and a woman's beard: that washing the interior beneath them is obligatory even if they are dense, because they usually do not conceal what is underneath, and any concealment would be rare and not subject to ruling. This is the position of Al-Shafi'i. Our proof is that it is hair that conceals what is beneath it, similar to a man's beard, and the claim of rarity regarding the eyebrows, mustache, and *ʻunfuqah* is not accepted; rather, it is the usual custom for them to conceal.