Question:
The questioner already asked about the general ruling of wiping over socks during ablution. But now the question is specifically about the length of the socks. According to some scholars in Saudi Arabia, the sock must cover the ankle in order for wiping over it to be valid. He asks for clarification about this matter.
Answer:
First, we must understand why this discussion about socks comes up at all. In Islamic law there is a special concession related to footwear. In cold regions people wear socks or leather footwear. Removing them repeatedly for every ablution can be difficult. Because of that, Islam allows a concession: if a person performs ablution and then wears socks, he may wipe over the socks instead of washing his feet each time he renews ablution.
The ruling is that after wearing the socks in a state of purity, a person may wipe over them for up to twenty-four hours if he is a resident. That means when he performs ablution again, he washes everything as usual except the feet. Instead of washing the feet, he simply wipes the top of the socks with a wet hand. This wiping is done as a symbolic replacement for washing the feet.
If the person is traveling, the concession becomes longer. Instead of twenty-four hours it extends to seventy-two hours. The reason behind this concession is practicality. In cold climates, constantly removing socks could cause hardship or even injury to the feet.
Now because this concession exists, scholars began discussing another question: what exactly qualifies as a “sock” for this ruling? That is where the issue of length comes in.
Some scholars say that the sock must cover the ankle. The ankle is the bone that protrudes slightly above the foot. If the sock ends below that bone, they argue that it does not count as the type of footwear mentioned in the rulings. Therefore, wiping over it would not be valid according to their interpretation.
Although there is no direct hadith explicitly stating the exact length requirement, scholars derive their understanding from related narrations. For example, there are hadith about the clothing worn during iḥrām for pilgrimage. During iḥrām, a person is not allowed to wear stitched garments like shirts or trousers. He is also not allowed to wear full socks. However, the Prophetﷺ allowed a concession: if someone cannot find sandals, he may wear socks but must cut them so that they fall below the ankle.
This narration is recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari. The instruction to cut the socks so that the ankle becomes visible indicates that the original sock normally covers the ankle. By cutting it below the ankle, it becomes similar to a sandal.
From this reasoning scholars concluded that the normal sock referred to in the rulings is one that covers the ankle. If the ankle remains exposed, it resembles footwear like sandals rather than socks.
Therefore, those scholars who say that wiping over socks is allowed only when the sock covers the ankle base their opinion on this type of reasoning. They say that if the sock does not cover the ankle, it no longer fits the category of footwear that the concession was originally given for.
In practical terms, this means the sock should at least cover the ankle bone. It does not need to reach the knee. It simply needs to extend above the ankle so that the ankle is covered. Once that condition is met, the concession of wiping over socks applies.