How does a person wipe over khuffs (leather socks) and what are its conditions?
Khuffs are a kind of shoes which cover the feet with ankles.
The conditions required for the masah (wiping) over khuffs to be permissible are as follows:
- a) They need to be worn after an ablution in which feet are washed,
- b) They need to be durable enough to walk at least 5 km. or more with a normal walking while they are worn,
- c) Khuffs must be stiff and thick enough to stand without tying shoelaces after being worn,
- d) The khuffs must not have a hole three times wider than the little toe,
- e) They should not immediately absorb water and take it into the feet.
Masah is a kind of ritual cleaning. During ablution, it is applied over a limb, a worn khuff, or a bandage on a wound with wet hand. For tayammum, it is applied over face and arms after touching hands on earth.
Wiping over khuffs while performing ablution is established by the sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (saw). As a matter of fact, there are many narrations stating that the Prophet (saw) performed ablution and wiped over his khuffs. (Bukhari, Wudu, 35, 48; Muslim, Taharah, 72, 73)
A person who wears khuffs on his feet while being in the state of ablution may apply masah over his khuffs for one day if he is a resident, and for three days if he is a traveler, starting at the time of invalidation of his ablution after wearing the khuffs. Prophet Muhammad (saw) stated that the period of applying masah over khuffs was three days and three nights for a traveler (musafir), and was one day and one night for a resident person (Nasa’i, Taharah, 98).
As the hadath (the state of being ritually impure) is deemed to have passed to his feet when a person takes off his either one or both of his khuffs when he is in the state of ablution after performing ablution by applying masah over khuffs, he just needs to wash his feet and wear khuffs again without. If one takes his khuffs off when he is not in the state of ablution, he needs to wash his feet while performing ablution again. When the validity period is over, one should just take off khuffs and wash his feet if he is in the state of ablution; if he is not in the state of ablution, he needs to perform a complete ablution by also washing his feet (Kasani, Bada’i, I,9).
Source: Presidency Of Religious Affairs The Turkey, High Board of Religious Affairs FATWAS
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