Is wiping over socks valid, and do socks have conditions when wiping over them?
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The questioner : Is wiping over socks valid? And do these socks have conditions if wiping over them is permissible?
The Shaykh : The stronger opinion among the scholars is that wiping over socks is permissible, for it has been narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he wiped over them.
And because the operative cause for which wiping over leather socks was permitted exists in socks as well. The operative cause for the permissibility of wiping over leather socks is the hardship of removing them and the man’s feet being wet with water, then putting them into the leather socks. This exists in socks, and indeed removing socks may be more difficult than removing leather socks.
And the conditions for wiping over socks are:
That they be worn while in a state of ritual purity. The evidence for this is the hadith of al-Mughirah ibn Shu’bah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he was with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on a journey, so he performed the ablution for prayer. Al-Mughirah said: “So I reached out to remove the leather socks, and he said:Sahih al-Bukhari 206 So he wiped over them.”
The second condition: That it be for minor ritual impurity, not major ritual impurity, due to the hadith of Safwan ibn ‘Asal (may Allah be pleased with him) who said:.
The third condition: That it be within the time limit prescribed by the Shari’ah, which is one day and one night for the resident, and three days for the traveler.
The start of the time limit is from the first wiping that occurred after the state of impurity, not from the wearing of the socks, nor from the state of impurity itself. So if we take as an example a man who wore his leather socks when he performed the ablution for the Fajr prayer, and he became in a state of minor ritual impurity in the middle of the late morning, and did not perform the ablution, and then performed the ablution for the Zuhr prayer after the sun passed its zenith, then the start of the time limit is from the time he wiped for the Zuhr prayer, that is, after the sun passed its zenith. And what came before that is not counted in the time limit.
There is a fourth condition: That the socks or leather socks be pure. If they are ritually impure, then it is not possible to wipe over them. This is because if the leather socks or socks are ritually impure, then praying in them is prohibited. This is based on what is established in the Sunan that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed with his Companions one day in his sandals, and during the prayer he removed them, so the people removed their sandals. When he finished his prayer, he asked them: They said: “O Messenger of Allah! We saw you remove your sandals, so we removed our sandals.” He said: Mishkat al-Masabih 766 This indicates that it is not permissible to pray in a sandal that has filth in it, and the leather sock is the same.
And based on this, the socks or leather socks must be pure. These are four conditions. There are other conditions in which the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed, but any condition that is not established by evidence from the Book, the Sunnah, or scholarly consensus is not to be considered.
The questioner : May Allah bless you, O honorable Shaykh.
The Shaykh : The stronger opinion among the scholars is that wiping over socks is permissible, for it has been narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he wiped over them.
And because the operative cause for which wiping over leather socks was permitted exists in socks as well. The operative cause for the permissibility of wiping over leather socks is the hardship of removing them and the man’s feet being wet with water, then putting them into the leather socks. This exists in socks, and indeed removing socks may be more difficult than removing leather socks.
And the conditions for wiping over socks are:
That they be worn while in a state of ritual purity. The evidence for this is the hadith of al-Mughirah ibn Shu’bah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he was with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on a journey, so he performed the ablution for prayer. Al-Mughirah said: “So I reached out to remove the leather socks, and he said:
He ordered me to leave them as he had put them after performing ablution
دعهما فإني أدخلتهما طاهرتينThe second condition: That it be for minor ritual impurity, not major ritual impurity, due to the hadith of Safwan ibn ‘Asal (may Allah be pleased with him) who said:
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded us, when we are traveling, not to remove our leather socks for three days and their nights, except from major ritual impurity, but from defecation, urination, and sleep.
أمرنا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إذا كنا سفراً ألا ننزع خفافنا ثلاثة أيام وليالهن إلا من جنابة، ولكن من غائط وبول ونومThe third condition: That it be within the time limit prescribed by the Shari’ah, which is one day and one night for the resident, and three days for the traveler.
The start of the time limit is from the first wiping that occurred after the state of impurity, not from the wearing of the socks, nor from the state of impurity itself. So if we take as an example a man who wore his leather socks when he performed the ablution for the Fajr prayer, and he became in a state of minor ritual impurity in the middle of the late morning, and did not perform the ablution, and then performed the ablution for the Zuhr prayer after the sun passed its zenith, then the start of the time limit is from the time he wiped for the Zuhr prayer, that is, after the sun passed its zenith. And what came before that is not counted in the time limit.
There is a fourth condition: That the socks or leather socks be pure. If they are ritually impure, then it is not possible to wipe over them. This is because if the leather socks or socks are ritually impure, then praying in them is prohibited. This is based on what is established in the Sunan that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed with his Companions one day in his sandals, and during the prayer he removed them, so the people removed their sandals. When he finished his prayer, he asked them:
Why did they remove their sandals?
ما بالهم خلعوا نعالهم؟Gabriel came to me and informed me that there was filth on them
فإن جبريل أتاني فأخبرني أن فيهما قذراًAnd based on this, the socks or leather socks must be pure. These are four conditions. There are other conditions in which the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed, but any condition that is not established by evidence from the Book, the Sunnah, or scholarly consensus is not to be considered.
The questioner : May Allah bless you, O honorable Shaykh.