Question:
As-Salaamu alaiykum wr wb,
Jazaka Allah khairun for opening this door. Which to us is a place of peace and satisfaction, may Allah (swt) bless it with prophetic light, insha Allah.
I have previously been advised that, while it is not our business to find the faults of others if we know that an Imam has wiped over his socks, or that it is his practise, it renders the salah behind him – according to this position – invalid.
According to the madhab of the sheiyk is the madhab of his student, what should we do in this case? Apologies for the dryness of the topic, I am attempting to avoid this situation disturbing my salah.
May Allah (swt) bring all muslims together following the vast majority of muslims throughout Islamic history, through His infinite generosity and for the honour of his Beloved Prophet. AstagfirUllah.
Ma Salaam.
Answer:
wa `alaykum salam,
Allah said not to spy on one another and there is an established madhhab that permits wiping on the socks, namely the Hanbali madhhab. In keeping husn adh-dhann (keeping a good opinion) we apply also the Prophetic rule of following the easy way as the Hanbali School has many rulings that are easier than the other 3 schools, especially in `ibadah, according to Dr. Wahbi Zuhayli, author of the massive encyclopedia of Islamic jurisprudence, al-Fiqh al-Islami wa addilatuh. At the same time the Imam should be consistent, ie. do every aspect of wudu and salat according to that madhhab, otherwise cut-and-paste, ie. talfiq, may render the acts invalid, ie it must be a salat that is recognizable according to one Sunni school, and not a hybrid.
Hajj Gibril Haddad
