Doing Ablution over the Socks Contradicts the Qur'an
Question:
Is it permissible to do ablution over socks when one wore them after performing ghusl or ablution?
If yes, is it not against the Quranic injunction to wash the feet? If it is based on a hadith? Would it not be fair to say that the hadith in question was adding something to the Quranic injunction, which is something that hadith cannot do?
Answer:
It is permissible to rub wet hands over the socks if one wears them in the state of taharah (cleanness) that is the result of ablution or ritual bath (ghusl). The permissibly remains for one day for the non-traveler and three days for the traveler.
I agree that Hadith cannot add anything to the Qur’anic directive. However we need to see this from a different perspective:
The Qur’an has explained how to perform ablution. The Book however has not explicitly explained when the state of cleanness after ablution is void. This has been clarified through the Sunnah. What we understand from the practice and the directives of the prophet (pbuh) is that if the person loses his cleanness after ablution while wearing socks, the cleanness of his feet can be considered to be intact for a while. Accordingly this person does not need to wash his feet, but only symbolically needs to rub wet hands on his socks. The prophet (pbuh) has given us this allowance based on the general spirit of easiness in Islam.
Looking at it from the above perspective, it is not that the Hadith has added anything to the directive of the Qur’an (one still needs to wash his feet at the start and then after the end of the allowed period). The Hadith and in fact the practice (Sunnah) of the prophet (pbuh) has merely informed us that in what condition the cleaning effect of washing the feet (as far as the requirements for worship are) has been terminated and thus the feet needs to be washed again as per the directive of the Qur'an.
Please also note that accepting or rejecting the implications of the Hadith and reports about rubbing on socks is a feqhi issue. One may come to conclusion that the hadith and practices of rubbing on the socks related to the time when the verse of ablution was not yet revealed, while others view can be that the Hadith and this practice related to both before and after the revelation of the verse of ablution. My current understanding is that the second view is correct (while the first view does not result in any harm or fault either).
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August 2013
Is it permissible to do ablution over socks when one wore them after performing ghusl or ablution?
If yes, is it not against the Quranic injunction to wash the feet? If it is based on a hadith? Would it not be fair to say that the hadith in question was adding something to the Quranic injunction, which is something that hadith cannot do?
Answer:
It is permissible to rub wet hands over the socks if one wears them in the state of taharah (cleanness) that is the result of ablution or ritual bath (ghusl). The permissibly remains for one day for the non-traveler and three days for the traveler.
I agree that Hadith cannot add anything to the Qur’anic directive. However we need to see this from a different perspective:
The Qur’an has explained how to perform ablution. The Book however has not explicitly explained when the state of cleanness after ablution is void. This has been clarified through the Sunnah. What we understand from the practice and the directives of the prophet (pbuh) is that if the person loses his cleanness after ablution while wearing socks, the cleanness of his feet can be considered to be intact for a while. Accordingly this person does not need to wash his feet, but only symbolically needs to rub wet hands on his socks. The prophet (pbuh) has given us this allowance based on the general spirit of easiness in Islam.
Looking at it from the above perspective, it is not that the Hadith has added anything to the directive of the Qur’an (one still needs to wash his feet at the start and then after the end of the allowed period). The Hadith and in fact the practice (Sunnah) of the prophet (pbuh) has merely informed us that in what condition the cleaning effect of washing the feet (as far as the requirements for worship are) has been terminated and thus the feet needs to be washed again as per the directive of the Qur'an.
Please also note that accepting or rejecting the implications of the Hadith and reports about rubbing on socks is a feqhi issue. One may come to conclusion that the hadith and practices of rubbing on the socks related to the time when the verse of ablution was not yet revealed, while others view can be that the Hadith and this practice related to both before and after the revelation of the verse of ablution. My current understanding is that the second view is correct (while the first view does not result in any harm or fault either).
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August 2013
