The scholars of outward forms disagree over three points in defining the washing of the face in ablution. These are the bare skin between the sideburn and the ear, the part of the beard that hangs down, and washing the beard.
As for that bare skin, some say that it belongs to the face and others say that it does not. As for the hanging part of the beard, some say that passing water over it is obligatory and others say that it is not. As for working water through the beard, some say that it is obligatory and others say that it is not.
Continuation on the Inward Ruling of What We Have Mentioned
(Obligatory Modesty and Modesty as Sunnah)
As for washing the face without qualification and without considering its limits, some of it is obligatory and some is not. What is obligatory is to be modest before God, lest He see you where He has forbidden you or miss you where He has commanded you to be.
Its Sunnah aspect is to be modest before God about uncovering your private parts in seclusion. God is most entitled to your modesty, although you know there is no part of you that He does not see. His ruling about your acts inasmuch as you are legally accountable is what we have stated. A report on this has been transmitted.
So too with looking at your wife’s private parts. Although it is permitted to you, observing modesty in the matter is better and more fitting. Its obligatory force, by which I mean the obligatory force of modesty, falls away in cases like that indicated by His words, “He is not shy of the truth” [al-Ahzab 33:53]. Whatever of it is required
