that must be washed? And if a leather sock has a hole covering half of it or more, is that excused?

He answered:

Yes, it is permissible to wipe over socks if one can walk in them, whether or not they are covered with leather, according to the sounder of the scholars’ two views. The Sunan collections report that the Prophet

“wiped over his socks and sandals.”

Even if this hadith is not established as authentic, analogy entails this ruling. The difference between socks and sandals is merely that the former are made of wool and the latter of leather. It is well known that such a difference has no bearing on rulings in the Sharia. Thus, it makes no difference whether they are made of leather, cotton, linen or wool, just as the rulings on prohibited and permitted clothing during ihrām do not distinguish between black and white. At most, leather lasts longer than wool. This has no bearing on the ruling, just as the strength of the leather has no bearing on it. Rather, wiping is permissible over both durable and non-durable footwear.

Moreover, it is well known that the need to wipe over one is exactly the same as the need to wipe over the other. When the underlying wisdom and the need are equal, distinguishing between them amounts to treating equivalent things differently. This contradicts the justice and sound reasoning taught by the Book and Sunnah, for which Allah revealed His Books and sent His messengers. Whoever distinguishes between them on the grounds that water penetrates one but not the other has cited a merely incidental distinction with no bearing on the ruling.