How long can a traveler wipe over socks?
A traveler can wipe over socks or leather khuffs for three days and three nights (72 hours). Someone at home gets one day and one night (24 hours). This is the view of the Hanafi, Shafi'i and Hanbali schools; the Maliki school sets no fixed limit.
The evidence
Ali ibn Abi Talib said the Prophet ﷺ set three days and nights for the traveler and one day and night for the resident (Sahih Muslim 276). Wiping over footwear is one of the easiest gifts of travel: no washing feet in airport sinks or motorway restrooms. The Quran mentions the feet in wudu:
The Sunnah explains that when you wear proper footwear put on in a state of wudu, you may wipe over it instead of washing.
When do the 72 hours start?
- Majority (Hanafi, Shafi'i, Hanbali): the clock starts from the first time your wudu breaks after you put the socks on.
- Another view (a narration from Imam Ahmad, chosen by some later scholars): it starts from the first time you actually wipe.
- Maliki: no time limit, though it's recommended to take them off once a week, for example on Friday.
The conditions
- Put the socks on after a full wudu, with your feet washed. Al-Mughirah wanted to remove the Prophet's ﷺ footwear during wudu, and he said to leave them, because he had put them on while clean (Sahih al-Bukhari 206).
- They must cover the feet up to the ankles.
- Leather khuffs are agreed on. For ordinary cotton or wool socks, the Hanbali school and many contemporary scholars allow wiping, while classical Hanafi, Maliki and Shafi'i scholars required thick socks that can be walked in. For more, see Do I have to take off my socks every time I make wudu?
What ends the wiping
- The 72 hours run out.
- You take the socks off.
- You need a ghusl (full bath), for example after intimacy.
- You arrive home: once you are resident again, the 24-hour limit applies, and if 24 hours have already passed, you wash your feet next time.
Normal things that break wudu (toilet, sleep, wind) don't end the wiping period; you just wipe again at your next wudu. See What breaks wudu?
- Travelers: 72 hours; residents: 24 hours.
- Socks must be put on after a complete wudu.
- Most scholars start the clock at the first break of wudu.
- Removing the socks or needing ghusl ends it.
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