- The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, granted the traveller a concession of three days and their nights, and the resident one day and one night—provided that, after purifying himself, he had put on his leather socks—to wipe over them.
It was recorded by Ibn Khuzaymah in his Sahih (1/96/192), al-Tahawi in Sharh al-Maʻani (1/50), al-Daraqutni in his Sunan (1/194/1), and Ibn Abd al-Barr in al-Tamhid (11/155)—the wording is theirs—as well as by al-Shafi‘i in al-Umm (1/29), Ibn Abi Shaybah in al-Musannaf (1/179), Ibn al-Jarud in al-Muntaqa (39/87), Ibn Hibban (72/184—al-Mawarid), Ibn Majah (556), and al-Bayhaqi in his Sunan (1/281), all through routes from Abd al-Wahhab ibn Abd al-Majid, who said: Al-Muhajir ibn Makhlad Abu Makhlad narrated to us, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakrah, from his father, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that he granted this concession … the hadith.
Some narrated it from him, but substituted Khalid al-Hadhdha’ for al-Muhajir.
Al-Bayhaqi recorded it (1/276) and said:
“The version narrated by the majority is more deserving of being preserved.”
He then related from al-Tirmidhi that he asked al-Bukhari, “Which hadith do you consider most authentic regarding the prescribed period for wiping over leather socks?” He replied:
“The hadith of Safwan ibn Assal, and the hadith of Ibn Abi Bakrah is good.”
I say: Al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Khuzaymah, and Ibn Hibban declared the hadith of Safwan authentic. It is cited in al-Irwa’ (1/140/104), and its chain of transmission is good; thus, the hadith is authentic on that basis. This is because al-Muhajir ibn Makhlad is a disputed narrator. Al-Shafi‘i nevertheless declared it authentic, as al-Bayhaqi related in al-Ma‘rifah (1/342), saying: