The second is that it is not permissible. This is the position of Mālik and al-Shāfiʿī.

Those who hold this view said: What is required is to be in a state of purity when first putting them on. Thus, if someone puts them on, then performs ablution and washes his feet inside them, he may not wipe over them until he removes whichever sock he put on before completing the purification of both feet, then puts it back on afterward. Likewise, in the case under discussion, they said that he must withdraw the first foot and then put it back into its leather sock. They cited his statement:

“I put my feet into the leather socks while they were both pure.”

They said: This person put them in when they were not both pure.

The first view is undoubtedly correct. If wiping is permissible for someone who performs ablution before putting them on, then it is all the more permissible for someone who performs ablution while wearing them. The latter attains purity while wearing them and maintains it while wearing them, whereas the former attains purity outside them. His having put his feet into the leather socks while in a state of ritual impurity makes no difference: it neither benefits nor harms him. What matters is the purity attained afterward, for putting them on is not a prohibited act, unlike touching a copy of the Quran while in a state of ritual impurity.

The Prophet’s statement, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,

“I put them into the leather socks while they were both pure,”

is true. He explained that this is grounds for permitting wiping, so anyone who puts both feet in while they are pure may wipe over the socks. He did not say that someone who does not do this may not wipe. Rather, that conclusion is inferred from the wording’s implication and its underlying rationale. We should therefore consider why this particular case was singled out: might some unmentioned cases have an even stronger claim to the same ruling? It is well known that putting the feet in while they are pure is the usual practice, whereas washing them inside the leather socks is not customary. But if he washes them