9. Abu Ali al-Ash’ariy has narrated from certain persons of our people from ’Isma‘il ibn Mehran from Sabbah al-ffadhdha’ from Sama‘ah who has said the following:

“I once was in the presence of abu al-Hassan , and he (the Imam) performed al-Dhuhr and al-‘Asr Salah (prayer) before me. I remained in his presence until al-Maghrib. He (the Imam) asked for Wudu’ (water) and he took Wudu’ for al-Maghrib Salah (prayer), then said to me, ‘You need to take Wudu’. I said, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, my Wudu’ is still valid.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Even so you should take Wudu’; to those who take Wudu’ for al-Maghrib it serves as expiation for the sins that they may have done during that day except the major sins. Taking Wudu’ in the morning serves as expiation for the sins that one had committed during the night before except the major sins.’”