by Asma bint Shameem
The five daily prayers are the most important thing in a Muslim’s life.
And we have to offer them daily no matter what our circumstances.
But sometimes it gets difficult to make wudhu, such while traveling, or at work, in college or at any time outside the home.
And even at home, someone who’s sick or elderly might find it difficult to wash their feet again and again.
But here’s a solution for all the above situations that will make wudhu and LIFE easy Alhamdulillaah.
And that is... to put on SOCKS.
How’s that?
After you make wudhu, PUT SOCKS ON right after that.
Then in case you need to make wudhu again, all you have to do is wipe over the socks and there’s no need to remove them to wash your feet.
🔺❓ But I thought you can only wipe over Khuffain (leather slippers)❓
You can wipe over shoes, socks or ANYthing that covers the foot completely.
🌿 Yahyaa al-Bakka’ said:
“I heard Ibn Umar radhi Allaahu anhu saying:
“Wiping over the socks is like wiping over the leather slippers (khuffayn).”
The socks do NOT have to be made only of leather in order for us to wipe over them. Rather they could be of ANY material, be it cotton, silk, nylon, wool, etc. just as long as the socks are thick enough that color of the skin underneath is not showing, making the feet appear naked.
🌿 Ibn Hazm said:
“Wiping over anything that is worn on the feet – of things that are permitted to be worn and which come up above the ankles – is Sunnah, whether they are slippers (khuffayn) made of leather or felt or wood, or socks made of linen, wool, cotton, camel hair or goat hair, whether leather is worn over them or not, or whether they are overshoes or slippers worn over slippers or socks worn over socks.” (Al-Muhalla, 1/321)
🌿And Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ibraaheem said:
“It is permissible to wipe over socks and the like, whether they are made of wool, camel hair, goat hair, cotton or other materials, if they are thick and cover the place that it is obligatory to wash, and they fulfil all the necessary conditions.
But if the sock is thin and shows the skin, then it cannot be wiped over.”
(Fataawa wa Rasaa’il ash-Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ibraaheem)
🔺❓Am I allowed to wipe over my socks even if I’m not traveling❓
Yes absolutely!
We are allowed to wipe over our socks for up to one whole day (24 hours) if we’re not traveling and up to three days and nights as a traveler since the time of breaking wudhu.
📌 Proof:
🌿 When people asked Ali radhi Allaahu anhu about wiping over the socks, he said:
“The Messenger of Allaah Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam stipulated three days and nights for the traveler, and one day and night for the one who is not traveling.” (Muslim)
🔺❓When does the timing start❓
The timing during which wiping over the socks is allowed, begins when you make wudhu and WIPE over your socks and NOT when you PUT ON your socks.
So for example if you made wudhu and put socks on at Fajr time, and then you break your wudhu at 10 am, but then you made wudhu at 1 pm and wiped over your socks, the timing of 24 hours when wiping over the socks is allowed for a non-traveler, will start at 1 pm and NOT at Fajr time.
🌿 Imaam al-Nawawi said:
“al-Awzaa’i and Abu Thawr said: The time starts from when he wipes over them after breaking wudhu. This was narrated from Ahmad and Dawood, and is the view which is most likely to be correct, based on the evidence. It was also the view favoured by Ibn al-Mundhir, and something similar was narrated from ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab radhi Allaahu anhu.”
(al-Majmoo’, 1/512)
🔺❓What if my socks have HOLES❓
As long as the holes are not HUGE, it’s allowed to wipe over them.
Think about this....
Didn’t the Sahaabah’s socks have holes in them?
They were poor and not many of them had a drawer full of new socks at that time;
Rather their socks were old and worn with holes in them.
Yet there’s no report from the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam prohibiting wiping over socks with holes.
🌿 Someone asked the Standing Committee about wiping over socks that had holes in them.
They said:
“It is permissible to wipe over them instead of washing one's feet when doing wudhu, if they were put on when one was in a state of tahaarah, unless the holes are bigger than is ordinarily acceptable, or the socks are so thin that the feet would be judged to be naked because they show the colour of skin beneath them.”
(Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 5/246)
🔺❓Do the ankles have to be covered❓ What about
low-cut socks❓
There’s a difference of opinion among the ulama about this issue but the safer and stronger opinion is that the socks should cover the ankles if you want to wipe over them.
That’s because the socks should cover the place that must be washed, and the place that must be washed goes from the ends of the toes to the ankles.
🌿 Ibn Qudaamah said:
“It is permissible to wipe over the khuffayn and the like if it covers the place that must be washed. If any part of the place that must be washed is not covered, then it is not permissible to wipe over it.”
(al-Mughni, 1/183)
🔺HOW TO WIPE OVER THE SOCKS🔺
Wiping over the socks is easy.
When you want to renew your wudhu, and you have socks on from before, all you do is:
-Start off your wudhu EXACTLY like you would normally make wudhu.
- When it’s time to wash your feet, you will simply run your WET fingers over your socks, on the TOP of the foot ONLY, starting from the toes back towards the part where the foot joins the leg.
- Do this only ONCE wiping both feet SIMULTANEOUSLY
- Wipe the right foot with the right hand and the left foot with the left hand.
- But if it’s not possible to wipe both feet simultaneously, for whatever reason, then do them one by one starting with the right foot.
- There’s no need to wipe over the socks multiple times, or use both hands on each foot, or wipe all sides and underneath the foot.
🌿 Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen said:
“This means that what should be wiped is the top of the sock, passing one's fingers from the toes to the shin only, and one should wipe with both hands over both feet together, i.e., the right hand should wipe the right foot and the left hand should wipe the left foot at the same time, just as one wipes the ears, because this is the apparent meaning of the Sunnah, as al-Mugheerah ibn Shu’bah said, ‘Then he wiped them both.’ He did not say that he started with the right, rather that he ‘wiped them both’. So this is the apparent meaning of the Sunnah. If we assume that he cannot use one of his hands then he should start with the right before the left. Many people wipe the right foot with both hands then the left foot with both hands, but there is no basis for this as far as I know. No matter how it is done, wiping the top of the slipper (or sock) is sufficient but what we have said here is best.”
(See Fataawa al-Mar’ah al-Muslimah, vol. 1, p. 250)
🔺❓What if I take them off? Will that invalidate my wudhu❓
If you want to take your socks off for whatever reason after wiping over them, that will not invalidate your wudhu.
🌿 Ibn Taymiyah and others said:
“If a person takes off the khufoof or socks after wiping over them, his wudhu does not become invalidated according to the correct scholarly opinion. That is because when a man wipes over his khufoof, he has completed his purification according to the shar’i evidence, and when he takes them off, this purification remains in effect, based on shar’i evidence, and it cannot be rendered invalid except with shar’i evidence. There is no evidence that taking off khufoof or socks that have been wiped over invalidates wudhu. Based on this, his wudhu remains in effect.”
(Majmoo’ Fataawa Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah(21/179, 215) and Majmoo’ Fataawa wa Rasaa’il al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (11/179).
🔺Conclusion
Alhamdulillaah wudhu couldn’t be easier, even when it’s difficult or inconvenient to wash the feet.
All you have to do is to put socks on....
1. In a state of taharah, after wudhu
2. Make sure the socks cover up to the ankles
3. Make sure the socks are not transparent showing the color of the skin underneath.
4. Wipe over them for up to 3 days and nights if you’re traveling and for 24 hours if you’re not.
And Allaah knows best
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