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Masah over cotton socks – Something really concerning

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Tafseer Raheemi

Subject:…

Assalamualaikum wa rahamatullahi wa barakatuh,

Respected shaykh abdur raheem (db),

I am concerned and confused with a matter, which I would like you to make it clear.

We pray in our school for dhur salah, what the matter is that people do wudhu on the regular socks which I know it is wrong, I gave one of the teachers the fatwa of Mufti Taqi Usmani (db), but no changes were made. I asked another mufti about this, he told me all four madhab are agreed that masah can not be done on these type of socks, which is also what Mufti Taqi Usmani’s fatwa explains.

I stopped going there, since I am afraid that if the person leading the salah has done masah on the socks then those who are the muqtadi will not be valid.

Now when I stopped going, there are some of my friends who tell me to come to prayer, and I tell my reasons that masah on these regular socks are not permissible, which is accepted by all schools of thoughts. But what I get in reply is that they think I am making excuses to leave salah, or they may say that look I have a beard and start saying shave your beard, sometimes they say that those scholars who I looked at the fatwa are extremist and hence I am extremist aswell.

This went on and on, I stayed quite and kept constantly telling the reasons. One of the friend told me we will ask the local Imam (‘alim from egypt) about this matter, who I believe is shafi’e. So we did went to the Imam and asked him, he said all the four schools of thoughts allow doing masah over the socks, as long the conditions are :

– the sock is thick enough not to show the skin (nakedness) of the legs.

– You do wudhu before wearing the socks, and you can keep them on for 24 hours, if you go toilet in the period you can do masah on the socks. Even if the socks have holes you can do masah on this period. All four schools of thoughts even hanafi agree on this.

I got really concerned with this and raised confusion. I told my big brother which he called another friend to confirm on this, the friend said he asked the Imam of his masjid who is yemeni and said that the Imam said it is permissible. The friend further told my brother that there is a fatwa made in saudi that the scholars agree on. Here I am confused are the scholars forced or is it truly they think it is correct?

Now I don’t know what to do, I told my friend I have looked over fatwas and they are saying that it is not allowed to do masah on these socks, whereas the shaykh(imam of my masjid) said it is allowed, even I looked at other fatwas in such extend that sources were provided by the mufti who wrote the fatwa that it is not permissible by all four schools of thoughts.

Now my friend says that who will you follow the shaykh or the fatwa from the internet, I just told him that I will show him the fatwa, but what I am not sure is that is it the right thing to do, I do not know what should be done on this matter, where such a big ‘alim like mufti taqi usmani is saying that it is not permissible, and there is arab scholars who say it is permissible. (the area where I live is in gulf area).

Could you please guide me in this matter and explain what should be done?


Answer:

Walaikumussalam w w

Mufti Taqi Sahib’s fatwa is the more correct one. Because these socks we wear do not fall under the category of thick socks.

Thickness does not mean just covering the skin, because the skin is covered by any material, thick or thin. What it means is that it is so thick that it becomes like a khuff ie leather sock.

This is a museebat of the Arab scholars; they lack profound knowledge and give fatwas based on their own logic and without keeping in mind the explanation if the Salafe saaliheen.

Please see our fatwa on this site regarding masah on cotton socks.

Fatwas should not be taken from
Internet when you know nothing about the fatwa issuer. When you know that person only speaks Haq, like mufti Taqi usmani, then you should give them preference over others who lack that in depth knowledge.

If you know for certain that an imam has done mash on thin cotton socks, Avoid praying Salah behind such stubborn Imams. Pray on your own or become an imam and do your own Jama’at.

This answer was collected from Tafseer-Raheemi.com the official website of Sheikh Abdul Raheem Limbada (Hafizahullah) of UK.

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