Wiping over socks or leather socks: Is it a dispensation or the default ruling, and does wiping have conditions?

The questioner : The question in my mind was brought to my attention by Shaykh Abu 'Adi regarding the disagreement over wiping. Is wiping over socks permissible, just as it is with leather socks, or is it not permissible? I read in the book of jurisprudence on the four schools of jurisprudence...

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : They all say that among the conditions for wiping over socks is that they must be sturdy, solid, and strong, resembling the leather sock, and so on. They must be sturdy enough that when wiping is performed, water does not reach the flesh. This is a condition agreed upon by the four schools, which is the issue of walking four days or a farsakh.

The Shaykh: Such and such.

The questioner : Or three miles, or something of that sort.

The Shaykh : Yes, that is correct.

The questioner : I believe this is not met in the case of socks, so my personal understanding was that I should stop wiping.

The Shaykh : Glory be to Allah.

The questioner : So I do not know if this is correct or not?

The Shaykh : If a questioner asked you about wiping over leather socks and then over socks,

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : is it the default ruling or a dispensation, what would your answer be?

The questioner : By Allah, regarding leather socks, I understood it to be the default ruling.

The Shaykh : No, no, you do not separate them. I gave you two examples.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Wiping over leather socks or socks: is it the default ruling or a dispensation, as far as you know?

The questioner : As an ordinary Muslim, it is a dispensation.

The Shaykh : Yes, and so let it be for the general public! -laughs-The Shaykh : (may Allah have mercy on him) - Well, is the dispensation, in your knowledge,

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : and I hope you will be successful in answering the second question as you were successful in answering the first question.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Are conditions usually required for dispensations that are not required for the default rulings?

The questioner : Definitely not, because they are of a lower rank.

The Shaykh : They are also

The questioner : because Allah loves for His dispensations to be taken as He loves for His default rulings to be taken.

The Shaykh : This is another stage.

The questioner : Praise be to Allah, praise be to Allah.

The Shaykh : Fine, but I saw that you, meaning, you forbade yourself this dispensation because of those conditions and restrictions. Do these conditions and restrictions befit the fact that wiping is a dispensation?

The questioner : By Allah, I forbade myself from one angle: I had time, I was not in a tight spot regarding time, meaning I had plenty of time.

The Shaykh : Now, you have spoken, and we do not want you to deviate.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Enough, enough.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : And we do not want you to deviate.

The questioner : May Allah bless you.

The Shaykh : Because dispensations do not require that one be free from other tasks.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Meaning, now, when a person is traveling, he has the default ruling and he has the dispensation.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : The default ruling is shortening the prayer, the dispensation is combining them. He has time and he has leisure such that he is able not to combine.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : But even so, if he combines, is there any harm on him?

The questioner : Not at all.

The Shaykh : If so, why do you give examples and say that you found leisure in yourself? Having leisure does not contradict taking the dispensation. Perhaps it has become clear to you.

The questioner : Yes, my lord.

The Shaykh : Then?

The questioner : I had a habit in the issue of the leather sock. There is no disagreement regarding the leather sock, and the issue of the sock.

The Shaykh : And I am speaking about the leather sock and the sock in general.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : So if you do not like me to lump the leather sock with the sock, we will set aside the leather sock and focus the discussion on the sock.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : The whole discussion

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : revolves around the leather sock and the sock.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : If you think, and I do not say if you think, that there is a difference between the leather sock and the sock, we will set aside the leather sock as we said, and we will return and limit the discussion to what? To the sock.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : So why now have you turned away from the dispensation of Allah, in which you mentioned the hadith? What is the exact reason now?

The questioner : Yes, my lord. The other party in the discussion, meaning, was perhaps more deeply versed in religion than me, so he said to me: the word "sock" was never mentioned in the life of the Companions, nor the Successors, nor the Successors of the Successors. He convinced me with this, meaning, from the angle that he is more knowledgeable than me, that the word "sock" was not mentioned; only "leather sock" was mentioned.

The Shaykh : Ah, both of you are wrong, the one who denied it and the one who agreed.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : So he is wrong because it is established from the Salaf, and I mean the first of the Salaf, who are the Companions, and especially Anas ibn Malik, then 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, and others, that they used to wipe over socks. And from al-Hasan al-Basri, the noble Successor, that he said, and this was a response to rejecting some of the conditions you read in that book or in another: "The socks of the Ansar were nothing but tattered." So the denial that wiping over socks did not occur is a matter of censure, whether it came from you or from someone else, because this is well-known. And after this, I say: if there were no basis for wiping over socks, whether from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) or from the Companions, the scholars would not have agreed on the legitimacy of wiping over socks as they agreed on the legitimacy of wiping over leather socks, even though they differed in the conditions for wiping over either the leather socks or the socks. And it came in the Sunan of Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi from the hadith of al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) - and in a narration - I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) wiping over socks and sandals." For your sake.

The questioner : May Allah prolong your life, if Allah wills.

The Shaykh : Meaning, it is not just that we have wiping over leather socks, no, leather socks and socks and sandals. The point of this hadith - and upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings - is that this noble Companion, who was counted among the wise men of the Arabs, said: "I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) wiping over socks and sandals." And when a text like this text comes from the action of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), meaning absolutely, I saw him wiping over socks, then at that time it is recommended to act upon this absolute text without straining to set conditions for it or seeking conditions for it, as the Jews did with Moses when they said, "What is its color? What is it?" If they had slaughtered it as they were told and taken the text in its absolute sense, they would have been at ease. But they strained themselves, so they perished and tired themselves. And for that reason, he (peace be upon him) said: So I will now give hypothetical examples to reach the real examples, even though they resemble the first hypothetical examples. I say: It is not for us to ask, "What was the color of the socks over which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) wiped? What was its fabric? Was it cotton or wool? And this wool, was it from sheep or goats or camels, or so on?"

The questioner : The result is: no wiping over socks. May Allah reward you.

The Shaykh : And may He reward you. These are hypothetical examples, of course, but they are real examples in that they were imposed and exaggerated, as you read: the socks must be thick.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : They must be fixed on the leg.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : It must be possible to walk in them such and such a distance. This is exactly the sister of that, but it is somewhat closer to reason, yet it is the furthest from the Shari'ah. Because the one who legislated for us by his action (peace be upon him) wiping over socks, if he had intended to set conditions for these socks that the general Muslims should adhere to and hold onto, and that it is not permissible for them to wipe over socks except with them, he would have made them clear to the people. Because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said: And Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is more worthy of being as He said in His Book: So if Allah had intended these conditions, He would have conveyed them to His Prophet, and if He had conveyed them to His Prophet, he would have conveyed them to his Ummah.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Because he said in the authentic hadith: So the absence of these conditions in any of the hadiths of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), first, and then from the reports of the Salaf who followed him in true, practical following, is the greatest proof that they are among the conditions about which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So wipe and do not worry, and enjoy the dispensation of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), whether you are busy or free.