Chapter: Wiping Over the Khuffayn (Leather Socks)

• Ahmad was asked about wiping over the khuffayn? He said: "Wipe."

• And I heard Ishaq say: "Wiping over the khuffayn is an established sunnah, and it is not permissible for the Muslims to transgress it for anything else, for wiping over them is better than washing the feet; because the sunnah is better than other than it. As for the one who says: 'I will wash my feet, and I see wiping over the khuffayn as permissible,' this is not [a stance taken] except by one who has an ailment in his heart. How can he turn away from the sunnah to something else, and then claim to follow it?!"

• It was said to Ahmad ibn Hanbal: Which hadith in your view is the most firmly established regarding wiping? He said: "The hadith of Shaqiq, from Hudhayfah, and the hadith of Jarir ibn 'Abd Allah, and there are other hadiths regarding it."

• And Ahmad was asked—another time—about wiping over the khuffayn? [He said:] "Three days and their nights for the traveler, from hadath (impurity) to hadath—fifteen prayers—and for the resident, a day and a night, from hadath to hadath."

• And I heard Ishaq say: "The sunnah has passed regarding wiping over the khuffayn: for the traveler, three days and their nights, and for the resident, a day and a night."

254 - Ishaq narrated to us, saying: 'Abdah ibn Sulayman narrated to us, saying: Sa'id ibn Abi 'Arubah narrated to us, from Abu Ma'shar, from Ibrahim al-Nakha'i, from Abu 'Abd Allah al-Jadali, from Khuzaymah ibn Thabit, from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said: "[Wiping is] for the traveler, three days and their nights, and for the resident, a day and a night."