perceive any such thing.’ Why, indeed, should he perceive it? Once an authentic report from the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, is established, it stands in the believer’s mind as plainly as if he had seen it with his very eyes.

Have you not considered his statement, blessings and peace be upon him: “Our Lord—Exalted and Most High—descends every night to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains and says, ‘Who will call upon Me so that I may answer him? Who will ask of Me so that I may give to him? Who will seek My forgiveness so that I may forgive him’?”

We do not hear these words directly from Allah, yet when the report is soundly transmitted from our Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, it is as though we hear them ourselves. Therefore it is incumbent upon us to believe whatever the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, has conveyed, and whatever has been reliably authenticated from him concerning matters of the unseen, with a certainty equal to actually seeing with our eyes and hearing with our ears.

Zur ibn Hubaysh then told Safwan ibn ʿAssal that he felt some unease in his heart about wiping over the leather socks after urination and defecation.

Allah the Exalted has said: “O you who believe! When you rise for prayer, wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows, and wipe over your heads and your feet up to the ankles” (al-Maʾida 5:6). Zur was essentially saying, “A doubt has lingered in my breast—hesitation and uncertainty—about whether wiping over the khuffayn (leather socks) after relieving oneself is permissible or not.”

Safwan ibn ʿAssal, may Allah be pleased with him, clarified that it is indeed permissible, for the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, instructed them, whenever they were travelling, not to remove their leather socks except in the case of janabah (major ritual impurity); but