Is Washing Feet Required In Wudu?
Washing feet in wudu is a requirement prescribed by Quran 5:6. Quran 5:6 Translation and explanation by Javed Ahmed Ghamidi Believers! [This very cleanliness is also needed to come in God’s presences. So,] when you rise to pray, wash your faces and your hands as far as the elbows, and wipe your heads and wash your feet to the ankles also [295] . And if you are [ceremonially] unclean, bathe yourselves to become clean. And if [at times] you are sick or on a journey, or when any of you has relieved himself or if you have had intercourse with women and no water is available to you, find some clean surface and wipe your faces and your hands from it. God does not wish to burden you; He certainly seeks to purify you. [Thus He makes it mandatory on you to do wuḍū and take the ceremonial bath] and wants to perfect His favour upon you. [Thus in compelling circumstances allows you to do dry ablution] so that you are grateful to Him. 295 : The method of doing wuḍū that is mentioned in these verses is that first the face shall be washed and the hands up to the elbows and after that the whole of the head shall be wiped and after that the feet shall be washed. The wiping of the whole head is essential because for this directive the words are وَامْسَحُوْا بِرُءُوْسِكُمْ (wipe your head) and those who are aware of the subtleties of the Arabic language know that on such occasions the letter ب signifies completeness. Similarly, it apparently seems that the directive regarding feet is governed by the verb وَ امۡسَحُوۡا (wipe). However, the words اِلَي الۡكَعۡبَيۡنِ (up to the ankles) after اَرۡجُلَكُمۡ (your feet) declined in the accusative are decisive that this directive is coordinated to اَيْدِيَكُمْ (your hands). Had they been coordinated to بِرُءُوۡسِكُمۡ (your heads), the words اِلَي الۡكَعۡبَيۡنِ (up to the ankles) would have been redundant. We can see this from the verses of tayammum where wiping has not been made conditional to اِلَي الۡمَرَافِقِ (up to the elbows). Hence, the feet shall necessarily be washed. Their directive has been deferred merely to keep intact the sequence of washing the limbs in wuḍū.
So, so much i have understood is that wudu was a Sunnah but with the passage of time innovation made their place in, then Quran corrected that and now it’s an act continued by Quran instead of Prophet SAW with his approval (as with the Salah is). So is this understanding then correct?