Wiping Over Socks

Welcome Back To Islam
One never converts to Islam, but only returns to his or her original nature

Letters/Q&A

Wiping Over Socks

Please help me with this topic if you can insha allah. I converted to islam 4 years ago. I learned how to pray mostly from books and watching my husband and people around me. I read you can wipe over your socks (or shoes) for a day if you had wudu when you put them on. also, I never read anywhere you had to be barefoot while praying. I was praying at my brother in law's house while wearing my slippers. afterward my sister in law said i couldnt do that. They began to tell me that you could only pray with shoes or THICK socks in an emergency or when the floor was too dirty to take off your shoes/socks to do wudu, or if you were in an inconvenient place. then they went into how the socks must be thick enough so water wouldnt saturate the sock and wet the foot, but if it was a thin sock and a shoe those together would count as a thick sock. It all seemed very complicated. according to what they told me my nylons wouldnt count as a sock, and I have been wiping over them for over 3 years now. The books mentioned wiping over the sock but didnt mention all these constraints to doing so. What i would like to know is Must I pray barefoot and if so where does it say so?? The fact that you can wipe over your sock three day s when travelling and one day if you are not seems to indicate to me that you can wipe over the sock at home, because if you are not travelling you are probably at home (esp. if you are a woman in the (prophets pbuh) day. and if you can wipe over the sock at home then you could probably pray wearing them, why would Allah grant us the ease of not having to take the sock off to do wudu just to oblige us to take it off to pray???? That seems to defy logic. And if you can pray in the home with socks why not slippers or shoes?? And what about the thickness issue?? Does that matter??

Please shed whatever light you can on the issue. insha allah you can provide some comfort on the issue.

PS. I often find that books that are explaining how to pray leave many important things out to make things simple. Why is that??

- A. H., 6 January 2003

Answer

Scholars unanimously agree that wiping over socks is permissible when making wudu without having to wash the feet. However, this is permissible provided that the socks were put on during the state of wudu, as you already know.

If one is traveling, then he (or she) can wipe over socks for three days and three nights or 72 hours. If one is resident, then he can do that for one day and one night or 24 hours or 5 prayers. After this period, the feet must be washed when making wudu (barring exceptions, such as one having wounds that would deteriorate if water touches it).

If socks are removed, then one will have to wash the feet before making prayer even if he had wudu.

It is not necessary that socks be thick or made of leather for wiping to be valid, as is the opinion or understanding of some people. This runs contrary to the objective of this permissibility, which is to make it easy for the believers, especially when they are traveling. So long as the sock covers the foot including the ankle, that is sufficient for wiping to be valid regardless of its thickness or the material it is made of.

As for praying with shoes or slippers on, that can be done provided that the shoes are clean of filth and impurity. It would, however, be preferable not to pray with shoes on if that would make praying uncomfortable, such as during sitting or standing up.

For further discussions regarding the above, one may read books of fiqh, such Fiqh us Sunnah by Sayyid Sabiq. One can also read the opinion of Dr. Alwani, the President of the Fiqh Council of North America, about this at Fiqh Council of North America.

Having answered these questions, I would now like to bring up a point that I consider to be important. Piety does not necessarily mean strictness, or having a narrow outlook on a ritual without any consideration for its objective, wisdom, or spirit. If one adds the condition that the socks must be made of leather or be of a certain minimum thickness, then he is not only adding constraints to an allowance where no such condition is attached, but also he is defying the very objective of the allownce itself. Similarly, if one likes to wash his feet despite the permissibility of wiping over socks, or if one likes to make full prayer despite the permissibly for shortening it when traveling, or if one likes to continue fasting during traveling despite its hardship even though he is allowed to postpone fasting and make it up later upon reaching his destination, all these under the consideration that he is very pious and thus is not in need of these flexibilities, then in my humble opinion, he has misunderstood piety. A pious person is a humble one who accepts any gift or flexibility that Allah (swt) has offered to him. Thinking that one is not in need of what Allah (swt) has offered him in order to make something easy for him may actually be a sign of arrogance, though he may not be cognizant about it.

Unlike most religions, Islam has retained its originality in not only its revelations, language, doctrines, and beliefs, but also in its forms of worships and rituals. Muslims have not, as they have no right to, attempted to "modernize" Islam or make any amendments to it so that it can "fit" a particular time or meet the "evolving standards of decency" of an age. Allah (swt) is the Author of Islam, and not us, and only He has the right to make any change in His law. Yet, Allah (swt) made provisions in it so that people are not burdened with undue hardships. The permissibility of wiping over socks is one such provision. As long they are authentic and agreed upon by the scholars, then a Muslim should act upon those provisions with peace of mind and without any doubt or reservation.

- Mushfiqur Rahman, 7 January 2003

Letters, questions, or views should be sent to editor@welcome-back.org or to mushfiqurrahman@hotmail.com. Unless otherwise notified by the sender, the piece sent may be published in this column with any answer if appropriate and after any editing for clarity, brevity, and grammer. Only last name or the first name of the sender will be used (to hide his/her identity) if the piece is published, unless the sender wishes to publish his or her full name/email address. Articles and letters published may not necessarily represent the views of Welcome-Back.org or its affiliations.