Ruling on Wiping Over Socks After Removing and Wearing Them Again
Source: Fatāwā Arkān-e-Islām
If a person removes his socks while in a state of ablution, and then wears them again before his ablution breaks, will it be permissible to wipe over them?
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd!
When a person removes socks in a state of ablution and wears them again before the ablution breaks, this matter has two possible scenarios:
From the words of the scholars, it becomes clear that:
➊ Wiping over socks is only permissible if they are worn after a complete ablution with water.
➋ Some scholars, however, have said that if the socks are worn again in a state of purity (even if that purity was obtained by wiping), then wiping is permissible, provided the duration is still valid.
➌ This is a strong opinion, but the answering scholar states he does not know of anyone who has explicitly mentioned this.
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
Source: Fatāwā Arkān-e-Islām
Question:
If a person removes his socks while in a state of ablution, and then wears them again before his ablution breaks, will it be permissible to wipe over them?
Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd!
When a person removes socks in a state of ablution and wears them again before the ablution breaks, this matter has two possible scenarios:
① First Scenario:
- This is the first ablution — meaning he has not yet broken his ablution since wearing the socks.
- In this case, if he removes the socks and then wears them again, there is no harm in wiping over them while performing ablution later.
- Reason: The ablution is still intact, and the socks have been worn again while in the same state of purity.
② Second Scenario:
- This is an ablution in which wiping over the socks has already been performed.
- In this case, if he removes the socks and wears them again, it is not permissible to wipe over them.
- Reason: For wiping to be permissible, the socks must be worn after performing ablution with water, not after purification obtained through wiping.
Scholarly View:
From the words of the scholars, it becomes clear that:
➊ Wiping over socks is only permissible if they are worn after a complete ablution with water.
➋ Some scholars, however, have said that if the socks are worn again in a state of purity (even if that purity was obtained by wiping), then wiping is permissible, provided the duration is still valid.
➌ This is a strong opinion, but the answering scholar states he does not know of anyone who has explicitly mentioned this.
Conclusion:
- Since the purity obtained through wiping is also considered complete purity in Sharīʿah, it seems correct to say that:
➊ Just as wiping is permissible on socks worn after ablution with water, it should also be permissible on socks worn again after purity obtained by wiping.
➋ However, the answering scholar states that he is unaware of any scholar who has explicitly stated this view.
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
