and wiping over leather socks and other garments and coverings suffices to illustrate this. Imām Ahmad compiled “The Book of Wiping over Leather Socks,” in which he cited reports from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his Companions concerning wiping over leather socks, ordinary socks, and turbans; indeed, even over women’s headscarves—as Umm Salama, the Prophet’s wife, and other women used to do—and over caps, as Abū Mūsā and Anas used to do. Any scholar who reflects on these reports will recognize the superiority of the knowledge of hadith scholars over that of others. Moreover, analogy clearly supports this. Those jurists who hesitated did so only because they followed the reports that had reached them and, out of religious scrupulousness, were reluctant to apply analogy.

Ahmad’s position did not vary concerning what was reported from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, such as the hadiths about wiping over turbans and socks and the time limits for wiping. His position varied only concerning what was reported from the Companions, such as wiping over women’s headscarves and large caps. It is well known that this matter allows a degree of latitude consistent with the principles of the Sharia and in agreement with the established reports from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

Know that anyone who has interpreted these reports otherwise—for example, by maintaining that wiping over the turban is sufficient only when part of the head is also wiped, or something similar—has not examined the reports in their entirety. Anyone who has examined them all would derive certain knowledge from them that the opposite is true.