Is it obligatory for a woman to cover her feet when going out? (And the discussion is on the issue of the permissibility of wiping over socks that have holes)

The questioner : There is a question, by way of correction, excuse me, regarding the covering of the feet for a woman. Is it necessary when going out?

The Shaykh : What covering?

The questioner : The covering of the feet.

The Shaykh : Ah, you mean covering the feet.

The questioner : Yes, covering the feet.

The Shaykh : This, may Allah reward you, is mentioned in the Qur'an; it is necessary because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) indicated this by saying (Blessed and Exalted is He): The adornment at that time was not limited to the bracelets placed above the wrists, but rather the adornment there was placed on the heels, on the ankles, and these are called anklets. Some small bells were attached to them. If a woman wanted to attract the attention of men, she would walk in the road and strike the ground. Why did she do this? Because her feet were covered. The evidence for this is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), as it came in the two Sahihs from the hadith of Abdullah ibn Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with them both), said: A woman, and she was an Arab who understood the Arabic language by nature and instinct, and it is obligatory for us, the non-Arabs, the Albanians and the Americans, to learn the Arabic language from the Book of Allah and from the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). When she heard one of the women say to him (peace be upon him): She understood that this word includes both genders, women along with men. And so she said: O Messenger of Allah, if our feet become exposed, meaning during walking, and this is very clear. He said (peace be upon him): If a woman increases by a shibr above the ankles, the extra shibr covers the feet. Then a second question came: From this hadith, we understand that a woman must cover her feet. There may be a difference between Muslim women today and women in that time, because men in that time, let alone women, did not commonly wear socks.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Their common use in this time is because material civilization has elevated people in these aspects, so the sock became one of the cheapest items, until you find the poor, the destitute man wearing socks, if that is the correct expression. But at that time, they were poor, and very few of them wore socks. And they might be torn, and this leads us to a jurisprudential issue we need. There is disagreement among jurists, both ancient and modern, on wiping over socks. You know wiping over leather socks.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : It is permissible by the consensus of the scholars of the people of the Sunnah and the community to wipe over leather socks, but there is disagreement on wiping over socks: is it permissible or not? There is no doubt and no ambiguity that the truth is permissibility, but they differed on the condition for the permissibility of wiping over leather socks. There are many opinions, and I do not want to delve into them now, except to the extent that relates to this occasion. It was said that it is required that the socks not be torn.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Meaning, split. It came in the reports of the Salaf that al-Hasan al-Basri, and perhaps you know something about his biography.

The questioner : Yes, I have heard.

The Shaykh : That he was one of the great scholars of the Tabi'un, and one of their brave ones and ascetics. And these two qualities rarely come together: brave and ascetic. He was asked: Does one wipe over a torn sock? He said: "And were the socks of the Ansar not torn?" Do you know what the point is?

The questioner : Yes. Why were they torn? Because they did not have another sock to change into every day, hehe.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : As is the case today, for example. So the point is that wearing socks for men at that time was rare, let alone for women. So the women in the era of the early Arabs, in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance and in the early days of Islam, were content with wearing the long garment.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : So if the wind came, it would expose her legs. And so that question came, and that immediate Prophetic remedy came, which is that they should increase by two shibr, so that the woman is not exposed in her feet, let alone her legs. Today, women wear socks. Some of them may assume that it is sufficient for them to wear the garment to the ankles, or perhaps to the middle of the leg, as some women affiliated with a certain party have become accustomed to. They claim that the sock covers, and the woman does not need to lengthen her garment so that it covers her feet. The answer: There is no doubt that the woman who wears socks and whose garment does not cover the feet is better than the one who does not wear socks and whose garment does not cover the feet. So now we have two types of women: one type is distinguished from the other by wearing socks, but both types share in wearing the short garment. So the one wearing socks is better than the barefoot one. But there is a third type, and this is the perfection: her garment is long, covering the feet, and she is wearing socks. So the point is that a woman exposing her feet while barefoot is not permissible, due to the verse mentioned previously and cited just now, and due to the hadith mentioned previously.

The questioner : By the way.