Shaqiq bin Salamah relates: I saw Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) perform ablution. He washed his face, sniffed water into his nose and rinsed his mouth three times, wiped his head and ears, outside and inside, and passed his fingers through his beard three times when washing his face, before washing his feet. Then he said: I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) do just as you have seen me do. The two Shaykhs agreed on recording routes of the hadith of Uthman describing his ablution, but they did not mention combing through the beard three times in their narrations. This chain is sahih (authentic), and the two Shaykhs used all its narrators as evidence except Amir bin Shaqiq, and no criticism of him is known. Its supporting report on combing through the beard is also narrated from Sayyiduna Ammar bin Yasir, Sayyiduna Anas and Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with them).