If someone were to argue, “Water reaches wool more readily than leather, so wiping over it should be preferable, since more purifying water adheres to it,” this characteristic would deserve greater consideration than the former one and would more closely resemble characteristics that affect the ruling. The former characteristic more closely resembles merely incidental ones. Yet both arguments are invalid.

Puncture holes do not prevent wiping from being permissible. If socks provide the required covering only when tied, wiping over them is permissible according to the correct view. The same applies to a high boot that neither stays in place nor provides the required covering unless tied. And Allah knows best.

He—may Allah have mercy on him—also said:

When I travelled by the courier relay and we pressed on at speed, the period permitted for wiping had expired. I could not remove my leather socks and perform ablution without either becoming separated from my companions or holding them up in a way that would cause them hardship. I therefore considered it most likely that no time limit applies in cases of need, as we have held regarding splints. To reconcile the reports, I understood the report from ‘Umar, and his words to ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Āmir, “You have followed the Sunnah correctly,” as referring to such circumstances.

I then found it explicitly stated in Ibn ‘Ā’idh’s Maghāzī that he had travelled by the courier relay just as I had. When Damascus was conquered, he went to convey the good news of the conquest, travelling from one Friday to the next. ‘Umar asked him, “How long has it been since you removed your leather socks?”

“Since Friday,” he replied.

‘Umar said, “You did right.”

So I praised Allah for this agreement.