Question:
Is it permitted to make mash (wiping) over ordinary socks?
Answer:
It is not permissible to make mash (wiping) over ordinary socks (cotton, woollen, nylon, etc. — i.e. all socks other than leather socks, khuffs) in wudu (ablution). There is no authentic narration sanctioning this practice. In the commentary of Tirmidhi, Tuhfatul Ahwadhee, the famous Ahl al-Hadith scholar Allamah Mubarakpuri, has written that this practice of making mash on woollen, cotton, nylon socks and socks made from similar materials is not established from any authentic Hadith (vol. 1, pg.333). Many other high ranking scholars of the ghayr muqallid sect (those who do not prescribe to taqleed) have refuted this practice and declared it as impermissible. (see Fatawa Nazeeriah; 1:423)
See also Wiping Over Socks in Ablution.
Hajj Gibril Haddad
