down the back; for wiping over the turban is confirmed by several hadiths narrated by more than one leading ḥadith scholar. ʿUmar said, “If wiping over the turban does not purify a man, may Allah never grant him purity.”

Wiping over the khuffs and the turban is permitted only for minor ritual impurity. In the case of major impurity, nothing of that suffices; the area beneath them must be washed.

One may also wipe over a jibīrah (splint)—sticks or the like that are bound over a fracture—as well as over a bandage placed on a wound and over an adhesive dressing applied to sores. All of these may be wiped over on the condition that they do not exceed what the treatment requires: they should cover the fracture or wound and only so much of the surrounding area as must be covered for the dressing to do its job. If the covering extends beyond what necessity dictates, the excess must be removed.

Wiping over the jibīrah and similar dressings is allowed for both minor and major impurity, and it has no fixed time limit: one continues to wipe until the dressing is removed or the injury beneath it heals. The concession exists because of necessity and therefore is limited to the extent of that necessity.

The proof for wiping over a jibīrah is the hadith of Jābir (Allah be pleased with him): “We were on a journey when one of us was struck by a stone that split his head. He later experienced a nocturnal emission and asked his companions, ‘Do you find for me a concession permitting tayammum?’ They replied, ‘We see no concession for you as long as you can use water.’ So he performed a full bath and died. When we returned to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, we told him what had happened. He said, ‘They killed him—may Allah kill them! Why did they not ask when they did not know? The only remedy…’”