Masah on Khuffain, Leather Socks

MASAH ON KHUFFAIN (Wiping over Leather Socks)

Masaah on Khuffain Literally means to wipe over leather socks when making Wudhu (ablution). This is valid in Shariah and is proven in the Qura’n and Hadeeth.

The verse of the Qur’an is as follows:

AL-MAAIDAH, V 6

5:6 O you who believe! When you intend to offer As-Salat (the prayer), wash your faces and your hands (forearms) up to the elbows, rub (by passing wet hands over) your heads, and (wash) your feet up to ankles. If you are in a state of Janaba (i.e. had a sexual discharge), purify yourself (bathe your whole body). But if you are ill or on a journey or any of you comes from answering the call of nature, or you have been in contact with women (i.e. sexual intercourse) and you find no water, then perform Tayammum with clean earth and rub therewith your faces and hands. Allah does not want to place you in difficulty, but He wants to purify you, and to complete His Favour on you that you may be thankful.

The verse above indicates towards making Masah of the feet with socks (conditions apply, see details below).

The Hadeeth are as follows:

Narrated Al-Mughira bin Shu’ba:

“I was in the company of Allah’s Apostle on one of the journeys and he went out to answer the call of nature (and after he finished) I poured water and he performed ablution; he washed his face, forearms and passed his wet hand over his head and over the two Khuff, (leather socks).”

Narrated Ja`far bin `Amr: My father said, “I saw the Prophet passing wet hands over his turban and Khuffs.” (socks made from thick fabric or leather).

CONDITIONS FOR THE VALIDITY OF MAKING MASAH ON SOCKS:

It must be possible to walk in them for more than three miles without them tearing. The walking is without shoes on.
They must be non-porous preventing water seeping through.
They must remain firm on the foreleg without being tied with laces, elastic, etc. They should not slip down while walking as ordinary socks do.

THE METHOD OF MAKING MASAH:

Draw the fingers of the right hand on the upper surface of the Khuffain starting from the toes and ending (the Masah) at the foreleg (just above the ankle). The Masah should be done once only on each sock. The right hand should be used for the right Khuff and the left hand for the left Khuff.

SOME RULES:

The following acts will nullify the Masah which was made on the Khuffain:

All things which nullify Wudhu.
Removal of the Khuff (sock).
The expiry of the period i.e. 24 hours for the Muqeem and 72 hours for the Musaafir.
If only one sock was removed then too, it is Waajib to remove the other one and wash both feet even if only the foreleg is exposed by lowering the Khuff, it will be regarded as if the whole sock has been removed. It will then be COMPULSORY to remove the Khuffain and wash both feet.
Even if the foreleg is exposed by lowering the Khuff, it will be regarded as if the whole sock has been removed. It will then be COMPULSORY to remove the Khuffain and wash both feet.
It is not permissible to make Masah on a Khuff which is torn to such an extent that an area equal to the size of three small toes is exposed. It is permissible to make Masah on the sock if it is torn less than this.
If the seam of the Khuff comes loose, but while walking the foot is not exposed, Masah on such Khuffain will be valid.
If a Muqeem who has made Masah Alal Khuffain goes on a journey before the expiry of 24 hours, then his Masah may be extended to 72 hours. His Masah will now be valid for 72 hours.
If a Musaafir who has made Masah Alal Khuffain returns to his home town then his Masah will be valid for only 24 hours.
It is permissible to make Masah on ordinary woollen etc, socks which have been covered with leather.
If Ghusl becomes compulsory then Masah Alal Khuffain will not be permissible even if the valid period has not yet expired. The Khuffain must be removed when the Ghusl is taken and the feet washed.
If after making Masah one sets foot in a puddle of water and water enters the Khuff wetting more than half the foot, then Masah will be nullified. Both Khuffain must be removed and the feet washed.

SOME QUESTIONS:

Question: What is the benefit of wearing leather socks?
Answer: If one wears leather socks after having made wudhu and his wudhu breaks thereafter, then when he makes his wudhu again, it would not be necessary for him/her to wash the feet, but rather it would be permissible to make masah (passing of wet hands) on the leather socks.

Question: Can one make masah on ordinary socks?
Answer: To make masah on ordinary socks alone is not permissible. However, if they have been covered with leather, or covered in leather in the shape of men’s shoes (in other words there are leather soles upon ordinary socks), or they are so thick and hard that they can stay on without being tied, and one can walk about four to six kilometers with them – then in all these cases masah on ordinary socks is permissible.

Question: Will masah be permissible if the leather socks are worn over ordinary socks?
Answer: If leather socks are worn over ordinary socks (cotton or woollen socks, etc.), masah will be permissible.

Question: Can one make masah on a burqa, gloves, hat, or turban?
Answer: Masah is not permissible on a burqah (head cover), gloves, hat or turban.

Question: What is the method of making masah on leather socks?
Answer: The method of making masah is that after wetting the fingers, they should be placed in the front. Place the fingers flat on the socks with the palms away from them. Thereafter, draw or pull the fingers towards the ankles. If the palms are also placed flat on the socks together with the fingers, it will be permissible.

Question: What is the ruling if one only makes masah with the tip of his fingers?
Answer:If the fingers were not placed flat on the leather socks but only the finger tips were placed, then this masah will not be permissible. However, if water drips continuously on the fingers and it could wet an area equal to three fingers, it will be permissible.

Question: What is the maximum period; one can make masah on leather socks after wearing them.
Answer: The person who is on a journey can make masah on the leather socks for a maximum period of three days and three nights (72 hours). As for the one who is not traveling, for him the maximum period is one day and one night (24 hours).

Question: From what time the 72 hours or 24 hours will be calculated?
Answer: This period of one day and night (24hours) or three days and three nights (72hours) will be calculated from the time the wudhu breaks and not from the time when the leather socks were worn.

For example, a person made wudhu at the time of Zuhr and then wore his leather socks. Thereafter his wudhu broke at the time of sunset. It will now be permissible for him to make masah right until the sunset of the following day. And if he is on a journey, then right until the sunset of the third day. Once the sun sets, it will not be permissible for him to make masah.

Question: What breaks the masah?
Answer:
1- Whatever breaks wudhu also breaks masah of the leather socks.

2- Removing the leather socks also breaks masah. (i.e. if a person is in a state of wudhu and he removes his leather socks, masah will break. He will have to wash both his feet again and there is no need to repeat the entire Wudhu.

NOTE: If the leather sock of only one foot was removed, it will be wajib to remove the leather sock of the other foot as well and to wash both the feet.

3- Masah also breaks with the expiry of the period of masah. If the person is still in a state of wudhu after the expiry of the period, then only the feet will have to be washed.

There is no need to repeat the entire wudhu. But if wudhu has also broken, then after removing the leather socks, the entire wudhu will have to be repeated.

Question: Can one make masah on leather socks when ghusl becomes obligatory?
Answer: If ghusl becomes obligatory on a person he should first remove the leather socks and then have a bath. Making masah on the leather socks when bathing is not permissible.

NOTE: The person who is making ghusl cannot make masah irrespective of whether it is a compulsory or sunnat bath. For example, a person raises his feet in such a way, that he washes his entire body except his feet, and after having washed his entire body, he makes masah on his feet. This is not permissible.

Question: Is it to make masah on leather socks when they are torn?
Answer: If the leather socks are torn to the extent that when one walks, an area equal to three fingers of the feet becomes exposed, then masah on them will not be permissible. But if less than three fingers get exposed, it will be permissible.

NOTE-1

If the leather socks gets open on one foot equal to two fingers, and equal to one finger on the other foot, masah will be permissible. If one foot is torn in several places and all this equals three fingers, masah will not be permissible. But if these several places do not add up to three fingers, masah will be permissible.

NOTE-2

If the stitches of the leather socks got opened but the foot is not visible from them, masah will be permissible. But if it is such that while walking they become visible and when one is not walking they cannot be seen, then masah will not be permissible.

Question: In which cases will the masah not be permissible?
Answer: If the socks are so short that they do not cover the ankles, masah on them is not permissible. Similarly, if a person is not in a state of wudhu and wears the leather socks, masah on them will not be permissible. He will have to remove them and wash the feet.

Question: Will the masah break if ones foot gets wet?
Answer: If a major portion (i.e. more than half) of his foot got wet in some way or another, the leather socks will have to be removed and the feet will have to be washed.

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Siwak: An Oral Health Device

Preliminary Chemical and Clinical Evaluation

Dr. M. Ragaii EI-Mostehy, Dr. A.A.AI-Jassem, Dr. I.A.AI-Yassin, Dr.A.R EI-Gindy and Dr. E. Shoukry

Kuwait

A variety of oral hygiene measures have been used since the dawn of time. This has been verified by various excavations done all over the world, in which toothpicks, chewsticks, tree twigs, linen strips, birds' feathers, animal bones and porcupine quills were recovered.

1. Those that originated from plants are tasty twigs and although primitive they represented a transitional step towards the modern toothbrush. It has been stated that about seventeen plants could be enumerated as natural sources for several of these oral hygiene devices.

2. The most widely used tree twigs since early times is the “Siwak" or “Miswak".

3. The stick is obtained from a plant called Salvadore Persica that grows around Mecca and the Middle East area in general.

4. It is widely used among Muslems after Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) realised its value as a device which should be used by Moslems to clean their teeth. In this respect our Prophet (pbuh) is considered the first dental educator in proper oral hygiene.

Although there is no reference to the use of Siwak in Al-Quran, yet several quotations could be read in the compendium of the sayings of Mohammed (pbuh) as to the benefits of Siwak in mouth cleanliness.

One saying reads as follows: "IF IT WERE NOT TOO MUCH A BURDEN ON THE BELIEVERS, I WOULD PRESCRIBE THAT THEY USE THE SIWAK BEFORE EACH PRAYER".

Several anecdotes, incidents, poems and rules of ethics in using Siwak were mentioned in various references talking on the subject of cleanliness of the mouth.

Salvadora Persica is in fact a small tree or shrub with a crooked trunk, seldom more than one foot in diameter, bark scabrous and cracked, whitish with pendulous extremities. The root bark is light brown and the inner surfaces are white, odour is like cress and taste is warm and pungent. Chemically the air dried stem bark of S. Persica is extracted with 80% alcohol and then extracted with ether and run through exhaustive chemical procedures. This showed that it is composed of:

Trim ethyl amine
An alkaloid which may be salvadorine
Chlorides
High amounts of fluoride and silica
Sulphur
Vitamin C
Small amounts of Tannins, saponins, fiavenoids &
sterols

PURPOSE OF THE PRESENT INVESTIGATION:

Because of the great quality of oral cleanliness noticed in individuals who use Siwak as the sole device to brush their teeth and because of the low incidence of dental decay of those individuals this work was undertaken.

It is intended to study the following:

1 .The mechanical ability of Siwak as a cleaning device to the mouth and its ability to rid the mouth of bacterial plaque (aggregates harmful to the gum)

2. If Siwak is powdered and used with a toothbrush, could it act as an efficient mouth cleaner?

3. As compared to other strongly abrasive toothpowders, could Siwak rank as highly efficient as to the used material?

DISCUSSION

Oral hygiene and patient motivation towards a clean mouth owe their birth to the teachings of Mohammed (pbuh). Due to the repeated use of Siwak during the day, the users showed an unusually high level of oral cleanliness. It is a well known fact that plaque formed immediately after meticulous toothbrushing. By the end of 24 hours the plaque is well on its way towards maturation and hence starts its deliterious effects on the gingiva.

Proper oral hygiene should be maintained through intensive instructions by the periodontist as well as by a great expenditure of time and dexterity on part of the patient. This item is self corrected in Moslems because Siwak users take Siwak as a device that should be used as part of their religious ritual regimen.

The results obtained in this investigation have proved that Siwak and other tree twigs 9 could act as an effective tool in removing soft oral deposits. It could be even used as an effective device in preventive dental programmes in mass populations. The indices used in this investigations were simple and adequate as they discriminated between experimental stages as well as between experimental groups.

Using starch is not quite accurate but it was meant to evaluate the degree by which Siwak and powdered Siwak could rid teeth of deposits as compared to the best abrasive viz. commercial powder.

It is noticed that the difference between first and fifth week of the mean score of plaque percentage for powdered Siwak is the highest (-11.2%) of all readings. This indicates that powdered Siwak is used with t mechanically proper device i.e. tooth brush will give a great deal of oral cleanliness.

It has been reported that Salvadora Persica contains substances that possess antibacterial properties. Some of the other components are astringents, detergents and abrasives.

Those properties encourage some toothpaste laboratories to incorporate powdered stems and/or root material of Salvadora persica in their roducts (Beckenham U.K. Sarakan Ltd.).

Although the commercial powder gave a high degree of efficiency in plaque removal yet its use over the experimental period gave a high score of gingivitis percentage within the group using the powder. It is true that plaque eradication is essential but this should not be on the expense of deleterious side effect on other tissues.

It could be concluded that Siwak and powdered Siwak are excellent tools for oral cleanliness. Because of its availability in this part of the world, being inexpensive and readily adopted by Muslims as part f their religious regimen, it is highly recommended in implementing a preventive dental health program Islamic countries. Also recommendations should be directed to manufacturers of toothpastes to include the powdered form of Siwak in highly sophisticated toothpaste.