Muwatta Malik 97
موطأ مالك#97SahihThese are the words of a Successor — the generation after the Companions — not of the Prophet ﷺ.
وَحَدَّثَنِي عَنْ مَالِكٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ شِهَابٍ، أَنَّهُ كَانَ يَقُولُ مِنْ قُبْلَةِ الرَّجُلِ امْرَأَتَهُ الْوُضُوءُ . قَالَ { ابْنُ } نَافِعٍ قَالَ مَالِكٌ وَذَلِكَ أَحَبُّ مَا سَمِعْتُ إِلَىَّ .
Yahya related to me from Malik that Ibn Shihab used to say, "Wudu is necessary if a man kisses his wife." Nafi said that Malik said, "That is what I like most out of what I have heard
Scholarly Authentication
The label above is the grade most of these scholars gave — one dissenting opinion no longer speaks for all of them. If any scholar calls a narration fabricated, that verdict is shown instead, whatever the others say. Each scholar's own wording:
Salim al-HilaliMaqtu Sahih
In-book reference: 2:66