The Companions (ras) sometimes differed on some issues, however, they used to treat one another with respect when they disagreed over matters as the Prophet ﷺtaught them. In this hadeeth, the Taabi’ee (i.e. one who comes from the generation after the Companions) ‘Abdullah ibn Hunayn reports that a disagreement arose between two renowned Companions - and two being regarded are: ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbaas and al-Miswar ibn Makhramah (ras) - on the permissibility of the ones in Ihraam washing their head while they were camped at al-Abwaa’, which is a region between Makkah and al-Madeenah, and is situated about 250 kms southwest of al-Madeenah, and it is the site where the Prophet’s ﷺmother is buried. Ibn ‘Abbaas (ra) was of the opinion that it is permissible for a person in Ihraam to wash his head during Hajj or ‘Umrah. As for al-Miswar (ra), he was of the opinion that it was not, so they both elected to seek out Aboo Ayyoob al-Ansaaree (ra)for his counsel on the issue. They sent ‘Abdullah ibn Hunayn to him. He found him bathing between two posts; that is to say: between two posts of a well which has been built and encased on all of its sides, on which a beam was placed between the two posts and had a wheel pulley affixed to it. Aboo Ayoob (ra) was concealed by a garment of some sort while he was bathing. ‘Abdullah greeted him, introduced himself, and asked him how the Messenger of Allah ﷺwashed his head while in the consecrated state for Ihraam. It is possible that the reason he asked him about the manner in which he ﷺ did it, and not whether he did it or not, is that he saw Aboo Ayoob taking a bath while he was in a state of Ihraam; therefore, he understood that it was permissible. However, he desired nothing more than to return with another benefit; hence, he asked Aboo Ayoob (raa) about how he ﷺ washed up. Aboo Ayoob (ra) answered his question by demonstrating the answer through his actions - which is more impactful than words - so, he placed his hand over the garment that he was screening himself with and brought it down and lowered it until his head appeared. Then, he requested someone to pour water over it, and said: “Pour it” to the person nearby. So, the individual poured the water over his head. Then, he moved both of his hands from the front, and turned them around in reverse over his head. That is to say, he moved both hands from the front of his head to the back, and then went back with them another time towards the front of his head. Then, he told ‘Abdullah ibn Hunayn that he saw the Prophet ﷺwash his head in this manner. There is no doubt that for the one in Ihraam who had a night emission, it is incumbent upon him to perform a ghusl, which is a full body purification completed by washing over their entire body. However, it seemed that al-Miswar's (ra) dispute was perhaps because he considered concealing the head near water tantamount to covering the head with garments and the like, which is impermissible for the one in a state of Ihraam. Or, he may have feared that when the one in Ihraam washed his head that some hair would fall out; and the one who is in the consecrated state of Ihraam is prohibited from removing his hair. In any case, Aboo Ayoob (ra) explained the method of how the Prophet ﷺ washed his head while in a state of Ihraam, which is the observed Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Two benefits we can derive from this hadeeth is that it shows how the Companions (ras) returned to the evidence as testified in the Sunnah and left their own opinions and independent legal judgements over the matter. And that when the Companions (ras) disagreed over an issue, their evidence was not something that one of them said or contrived of if it was not supported with evidence which from the Quran or the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ..