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Wudu without washing the legs

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Qibla.com

Answered by Ustadha Noura Shamma, SunniPath Academy Teacher

I am always wearing shoes with socks while going to the office. After taking my morning bath, i will wear my socks and shoes. I am facing zohar, Asar and Majrib during my office hours. We have a small wash room in our office. Very difficultly i have to remove my socks and shoes to wash my legs. One of my friend told “no need to wash your leg because your shoes are madeup of leather and just touch the water and rub on the top of your shoes, then your wudu will be fulfilled. I am also feeling uncomfortable to remove my socks and shoes every time to make wudu. Is the above statement is right or is there any easy method to fulfil the wudu without removing the shoes.

Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Assalamualikum wa rahmatullahi wa baraktu,

I pray insh’Allah all is well with you and your family.  My apologies for the delay in responding to your question.

Alhamdulillah we are blessed to be part of the Ummah of our beloved Prophet peace be upon him, who showed us the correct way to do everything in our lives.

It is a mark of Ahl al-Sunnah that wiping on one’s footgear is permissible and verified by many Companions.

However as the wiping is a replacement for washing, there are certain conditions that must be met in order for the wudu to be valid and sound.

Conditions of the footgear:
1. You must put them on after washing your feet for wudu and before anything happens to break your wudu.
2.   It must cover the entire foot up to and including the ankle bone.
3.  You must be able to walk up 3-5 miles in them without getting a hole in them bigger than your three smallest toes.
4.   Each covering must not have a hole bigger than your three smallest toes.
5.  They must stay on your feet securely.
6.  They must prevent water from reaching your skin.

If your shoes meet these requirements, then it is permissible for you to wipe over them for up to 24 hours when you are a resident and up to 72 hours when you travel.

Here is how it works:

You make wudu and then put on your shoes (that meet the conditions).  During the day you need to re-new your wudu, so you wash everything as you normally do and when you reach your feet, you wet your hand and wipe from your toes toward your leg, once on each foot.   

Now if you do this, then you MUST pray with your shoes on.  If you wipe over your shoes and then take them off, this breaks the “wiping” and you have to then wash your feet. 

If you have socks that meet the conditions above you can wipe on them but make sure they meet each and every condition

I pray inshAllah this answer has been of benefit to you,

Wassalamualikum wa rahmatullahi wa baraktu,

Sources:
Imam Ala’uldin Abidin’s Hadiyyah
Imam Shurunbulali’s Maraqi al-Falah.

Noura Shamma
Approved by Faraz Rabbani

This answer was indexed from Qibla.com, which used to have a repository of Islamic Q&A answered by various scholars. The website is no longer in existence. It has now been transformed into a learning portal with paid Islamic course offering under the brand of Kiflayn.

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