Sharʿī Ruling on Wiping Over Socks (Masḥ ʿala al-Jawrabayn)Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Vol. 1 – Kitāb al-ʿAqāʾid, p. 220
❖ Question:
Is it permissible in Islam to perform masḥ (wiping) over socks during wuḍūʾ?
❖ Answer:
Alḥamdulillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, Ammā baʿd...
Yes! Performing masḥ over socks is sharʿī-permissible and authentically proven from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, his Companions (RA), and the early generations (Tābiʿīn and scholars).
① Evidence from Ḥadīth
Narrated from Thawbān (RA):The Messenger of Allah ﷺ dispatched a group for jihād. They experienced severe cold. Upon their return, the Prophet ﷺ instructed them to wipe over their turbans and foot coverings (socks and leather footwear).
(Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 146, Vol. 1, p. 21)
✔ This ḥadīth is authentic, confirmed by Imām al-Ḥākim and al-Dhahabī (RA).
(Al-Mustadrak: 1/169, Ḥadīth 602)
② Evidence from the Companions (Ṣaḥābah)
Imām Abū Dāwūd (RA) said:“ʿAlī, Ibn Masʿūd, al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib, Anas ibn Mālik, Abū Umāmah, Sahl ibn Saʿd, ʿAmr ibn Ḥarīth, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, and Ibn ʿAbbās (RA) — all performed masḥ over socks.”
(Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 159, Vol. 1, p. 24)
These reports are also found in:
◈ Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah: 1/188–189
◈ Muṣannaf ʿAbd al-Razzāq: 1/199–200
◈ Al-Muḥallā by Ibn Ḥazm: 2/84
◈ Al-Kunā by al-Dūlābī: 1/181
✔ The practice of ʿAlī (RA) is authentically recorded in al-Awsaṭ by Ibn al-Mundhir (Vol. 1, p. 462).
Imām Ibn Qudāmah (RA) stated:“The Companions performed masḥ over socks, and no one from their era opposed it — this indicates consensus (ijmāʿ).”
(Al-Mughnī: 1/181, Masʾalah: 426)
③ Opinions of the Tābiʿīn and Early Scholars
The following scholars affirmed the permissibility of masḥ over socks:
◈ Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī
◈ Saʿīd ibn Jubayr
◈ ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ
◈ Imām al-Shāfiʿī
◈ Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal
◈ Sufyān al-Thawrī
◈ ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Mubārak
◈ Isḥāq ibn Rāhawayh
(References: Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Vol. 1, p. 99; Al-Muḥallā: 2/86; Masāʾil Abī Dāwūd: p. 12)
Imām Ibn al-Mundhir (RA) reported:“Isḥāq ibn Rāhawayh said: There was no difference among the Companions regarding this issue.”
(Al-Awsaṭ: 1/464–465)
✔ Imām Ibn Ḥazm (RA) also confirmed this in al-Muḥallā (2/86).
④ The Revision of Imām Abū Ḥanīfah’s Opinion
Initially, Imām Abū Ḥanīfah (RA) did not allow masḥ over regular socks.However, he later retracted this view and permitted it.
(Al-Hidāyah: 1/61; Naṣb al-Rāyah: 1/165)
Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī (RA) wrote in al-Bināyah (1/597):“Socks made of cotton or wool are a type of footwear (khuff), so wiping over them is permissible.”
Imām al-Tirmidhī mentioned that Imām al-Shāfiʿī, Imām Aḥmad, Imām Isḥāq, and others allowed masḥ over socks — as long as they are thick enough to be walked in.
(Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Vol. 1, p. 99)
⑤ Final Summary and Verdict
✔ Wiping over socks is permissible based on authentic ḥadīths, practice of the Companions, and consensus of scholars.
✔ This ruling was undisputed during the time of the Ṣaḥābah and Tābiʿīn.
✔ Even Imām Abū Ḥanīfah revised his initial position and his students gave fatāwā supporting it.
✔ The condition is that the socks should be thick enough to qualify as proper foot coverings.
Opposing this ruling has no valid basis in Sharīʿah.وَاللّٰهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَاب
