Palm of the hand (kaff)

كَفّ

Kaff is the palm of the hand with its fingers. Rules on it include washing the hands at the start of ablution, on rising from sleep and before and after eating; wiping the palms in tayammum; and washing the hands up to the elbows as a pillar of ablution. In retaliation the hand is cut at the wrist joint; the blood-money for a hand is half the blood-money of the whole limb, on the reports of Mu'adh and Amr ibn Hazm (may God be pleased with him); a thief's hand is cut at the wrist, as is a highwayman's. ¹ ² ³ ⁴ ⁵

Summary

Kaff in the lexicon is the palm with its fingers, plural kufuf or akuff. It is named so because it keeps harm from the body ¹. A finger is one of the ends of the palm ¹.

Washing the palms in ablution and on waking

The jurists agree on washing the palms up to the wrists at the start of ablution. They differ on washing on rising from sleep: the Hanafis, Malikis and Shafi'is, and one Hanbali narration, call it a sunna; Ahmad in another narration and others call it obligatory, on the hadith "when one of you wakes from sleep, let him not dip his hand in the vessel until he has washed it three times" ¹ ².

Washing the hands with the arms and wiping in tayammum

Washing the palms with the arms up to the elbows is a pillar of ablution, by the verse and the reports describing the Prophet ﷺ's ablution ² ³. Wiping the palms with dust is a pillar of tayammum, by the verse and the report of Ammar ³.

Washing before and after meals

Most jurists recommend washing the palms before and after eating, even for one already in ablution. A Hanbali narration dislikes it before and after, and al-Qadi preferred this view ⁴.

Retaliation for cutting the palm

The jurists agree that retaliation applies to cutting the palm when its conditions hold, and the hand is cut at the wrist joint. The injured party may not cut the fingers of the offender instead of the palm; the Shafi'is would discipline anyone who does so ⁴.

Blood-money for the palm

All agree that half the blood-money is owed for cutting the hand at the wrist joint, whether the act was intentional with retaliation waived, mistaken, or semi-intentional, on the report of Mu'adh that there is blood-money for the two hands, and the letter to Amr ibn Hazm that a hand carries fifty camels ⁴ ⁵.

Cutting the thief's and highwayman's hand

Most jurists hold that a thief's hand is cut at the wrist joint, following the Prophet's cutting of a thief's hand at the joint and the practice of Abu Bakr, Umar and Ali. Some early scholars held that it is cut at the elbow, the base of the fingers or the shoulder. The highwayman's hand is cut at the wrist according to most jurists ⁵.

Sources

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.13401

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.13402

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.13403

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.13404

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.13405

Bone (adhm): purity, use and retaliation

In the lexicon, adhm is the bone that has flesh on it, plural 'idham and 'izam. Most jurists hold that a human bone is pure, whether living or dead, of a Muslim or not; that a fish bone stays pure after death; and that the bone of a lawfully slaughtered edible animal is pure and may be used. The bone of carrion, or of a non-edible animal, is impure according to the Malikis, Shafi'is, Hanbalis and Ishaq, and cannot be purified; the Hanafis hold it pure, and 'Umar disliked oiling in ivory. On cleansing after excretion with a bone, the Shafi'is and Hanbalis forbid it; the Hanafis dislike it as forbidden but accept that it suffices; the Malikis forbid a carrion bone and allow a pure bone with disapproval. Most jurists allow retaliation for a bone only at a joint, since equality cannot be achieved elsewhere.