Wrist (kuʿ), fiqh rulings

Kuʿ, in lexicon, is the end of the forearm bone beside the thumb, plural akwaʿ; the end beside the little finger is called karsuʿ ¹.

The jurists agree that the first act of ablution is to wash the hands up to the kuʿs, following the Prophet ﷺ ¹.

The jurists agree that wiping the face and the hands is a pillar of tayammum, and differ on the limit for the hands ². The Hanafis, Shafi'is, al-Thawri, Ibn Abi Salama and al-Layth hold that reaching the elbows is obligatory; the Malikis and Hanbalis hold that it reaches the kuʿs, the wrists, as also reported from Ali, al-Awza'i and Ata, and held by Ishaq and al-Tabari ². Ibn Shihab said the armpits, and al-Darawardi said the kuʿs are obligatory and the armpits a virtue ².

The Hanafis, Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis hold that the first part cut from a thief is the right hand at the joint of the palm, the kuʿ, on the report that the Prophet cut the hand of a thief at the joint, and on the words of Abu Bakr and Umar: if the thief steals, cut his right hand at the kuʿ; no companion disagreed ^{2 3}. The detail is in the entry on theft ³.