Is intention required when wearing leather socks in order to wipe over them?

The Shaykh : All right, the second question.

The questioner : Is the intention to wipe required after wearing the leather socks while in a state of ablution?

The Shaykh : I think this question is theoretical rather than practical, except in the Hanafi school. Do you know if intention is required in ablution?

The questioner : Bringing the intention to mind?

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner : Bringing the intention to mind.

The Shaykh : You did not understand.

The questioner : Bringing the intention to mind, you mean, Shaykh?

The Shaykh : And what is the difference? Is the intention required, or is bringing the intention to mind required? Distinguish between the two so that I can answer you.

The questioner : By Allah, I do not know.

The Shaykh : Ah?

The questioner : I do not know.

The Shaykh : You do not know?

The questioner : No

The Shaykh : But why are you clarifying bringing the intention to mind?

The questioner : I mean, some people say it is necessary to verbalize it.

The Shaykh : I am not saying to verbalize it. You know what intention is; intention is in the heart.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : All right, so the question is: is bringing the intention to mind required, or not?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : All right, is bringing the intention to mind required for the entire ablution or only part of it? I mean, only when he wants to wash his hands, or for the whole ablution?

The questioner : The ablution.

The Shaykh : All right, when he wants to wash his feet, is that not included in the whole? All right, when he wants to wipe over the socks, is that not included in the whole?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : So your question is theoretical, not practical.

Another questioner : Just a moment, Professor, please?

The Shaykh : No, he is finishing his presentation of the issue according to his opinion, and then it will be someone else's turn.
The other questioner: He does not know how to present the issue, Professor.

The Shaykh : Excuse me, my brother.

The questioner : Because I once discussed it with Muhammad.

The Shaykh : All right, what did you tell Muhammad?

The questioner : I have one of your students who has not seen you, but he is one of your students. I was performing ablution and wearing socks, but later when I came to wipe over them, he told me: Did you stipulate when you wore the socks that you would wipe over them?

The Shaykh : Now your question has changed, did you see? Let him look at his own situation.

Another questioner : Do you see how it is, Shaykh?

The Shaykh : It has changed now.

The questioner : So I tell him: No, I do not know.

The Shaykh : My brother, this is a different question from your first one. All right, what did he say to you?

The questioner : He told me: No, he thinks it is better that you bring the intention to mind that when you wore them, you might wipe over them.

The Shaykh : And are you conveying it from him accurately?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : He told you it is better.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : And what is the opposite of "better"?
Al-Halabi : Good.

The questioner : Good.

The Shaykh : In the sense: did you understand from him that when you wore the socks after performing ablution in the morning, you did not intend? Did you understand from him that when you performed ablution at midday and wiped over them, your ablution is valid? Or did you understand from him that it is not valid?

The questioner : It is not valid.

The Shaykh : So you did not convey it accurately. You are saying he told you "better." The meaning of "better" is "preferred." If someone leaves the better and preferred option, there is no harm on him. Like if someone asked you: "I want to pray in the morning; is it permissible for me to pray the Fajr prayer with only the two obligatory units without the Sunnah?" He told you: "It is better that you pray the Sunnah." Do you understand from the word "better" that it is obligatory to pray these two units before the obligatory prayer? The answer is no. All right, you are now saying about him that he told you it is better that you intend.

The questioner : Yes, but not in the sense of "better." I mean, he does not scrutinize it. In America, they try not to be strict with the youth; they try to make things easy. But in his belief, the ablution is not valid if you did this ablution; it is not valid. I mean, his action and practice indicate that he says this is not valid.

The Shaykh : But the one who says it is not valid does not tell you "it is better to do so."

The Shaykh : I mean, when he tells me "it is better," it is preferred that you remove them; he does not compel me to do this.

The Shaykh : The important thing, my brother, is that the ablution is valid. The ablution is valid, yes.