removing them and washing his feet, for the Messenger ﷺ said, “Leave them on—do not take them off, for I put them on while I was in a state of purity,” and he proceeded to wipe over them.

Another benefit derived from this ḥadith is the view held by some scholars that wiping over leather socks is done once for both feet together. Al-Mughīrah did not mention that the Prophet ﷺ began with the right foot before the left, so they inferred that the wiping is performed with both hands simultaneously in a single stroke. Nonetheless, there is no harm if a person chooses this method or prefers to wipe the right foot first and then the left, because wiping is a substitute for washing, and in washing the right side is given precedence. The substitute shares the ruling of what it replaces, so whichever way one does it, there is no restriction—the matter is spacious.

A further benefit is that wiping over leather socks or ordinary socks is only valid if they were put on after a complete state of ritual purification. If someone wears them without such purification, he must remove them when performing wuḍūʾ and wash his feet. The narration offers additional points of benefit as well.