Third:
It indicates that one may wear trousers without unpicking their seams. This is the view of the majority, including al-Shāfi‘ī and Ahmad.

Fourth:
It indicates that cut-down leather socks are like sandals: they may be worn without restriction, as may similar footwear, such as jumjum and madās. This is the position of Abū Hanīfah and one view within the school of Ahmad and others. My grandfather Abū al-Barakāt, may Allah have mercy on him, issued fatwas to this effect towards the end of his life, when he performed Hajj.

Abū Hanīfah, may Allah Most High have mercy on him, understood from Ibn Umar’s hadith that wearing cut-down leather socks constitutes an original allowance for which there is no substitute; they may therefore be worn without restriction. His understanding was correct, unlike that of those who understood them to be a substitute.

The other three imams understood that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, permitted substitutes—namely, leather socks and trousers. Thus, whoever wears trousers when the original garment is unavailable owes no compensatory offering. This understanding is correct. Ahmad understood from the later text, in which the two substitutes were prescribed, that it abrogated the earlier instruction to cut down the leather socks. This understanding is also correct.

This had not reached Abū Hanīfah, so he required a compensatory offering from anyone who wore leather socks or wore trousers without unpicking their seams, even if the usual garments were unavailable. Ibn Umar and others likewise held this view.