Answered by Shaykh Hamza Karamali, SunniPath Academy Teacher
What rules should one observe when wearing two khuffs on top of each other? Typically, I have a pair whose appearance and durability I like to maintain for when I go to people’s homes, etc. However, when I do wood-work or repairs in the basement, I wear a worn pair over the clean ones to protect the clean ones from tearing, chemicals, etc. I put both on when I have wudu, and neither have holes in them.
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate
If one wears one khuff on top of another (jurmuq), there are four cases to consider.
Case 1:Both khuffs fulfill the conditions of wiping (see Reliance, e6.4 for some of the conditions of wiping) It is valid to wipe if one wipes the bottom khuff.
Case 2:Neither khuff fulfills the conditions of wiping It is not valid to wipe, since one is not wearing any wipe-able khuffs.
Case 3:The top khuff fulfills the conditions of wiping, but the bottom khuff does not It is valid to wipe if one wipes the top khuff. The bottom khuff is not really a khuff, so it’s as if it doesn’t exist.
Case 4:The bottom khuff fulfills the conditions of wiping, but the top khuff does not It is valid to wipe if one wipes the bottom khuff.
In cases 1 and 4, one’s wiping is also valid if one wipes the top khuff and water reaches the bottom khuff (through the seams, for example), provided that one did not intend to solely wipe the top khuff. If one intended to wipe both khuffs, or to wipe the bottom khuff, or if one simply intended to “wipe” without specifying any khuff, then wiping the top khuff would be valid if water reaches the bottom khuff.
(Hashiyat al-Bajuri, 1.94; Tuhfat al-Muhtaj, 1.252; Mughni’l-Muhtaj, 1.113)
If these rulings are too hard to memorize or understand, then if you make it a rule to always wipe the bottom-most khuff that fulfills the conditions of wiping, you’ll have performed a valid wiping.
And Allah knows best.
Hamza.