MASAH ALAL KHUFFAIN
- INTRODUCTION
- THE MEANINGS
- THE BASIS FOR MASAH ALAL KHUFFAIN
- THE KINDS OF JURRAAB (NON-LEATHER SOCKS)
- THE BLIND TAQLEED OF THE SALAFIS
The Meaning of Masah Alal Khuffain
According to the Shariah, Masah Alal Khuffain means to pass the wet hand over a special type of sock in which are found several conditions.
The Shuroot
The following are the necessary conditions of the special type of sock for the validity of masah:
(1) The sock must cover the entire foot including the ankles.
(2) The socks should be of such durable material that walking in them without shoes is possible for more than three miles without the socks tearing. This is the Hanafi ruling. According to the Shaafi Math-hab, the khuffain should be sufficiently durable to walk for three days and three nights. Although the Maaliki Math-hab does not stipulate walking distance, it stipulates that the material must be leather which obviously satisfies the condition of the other Math-habs. According to the Hambali Math-hab, continuous walking is not a condition. The durability of the sock is left to Urf (Popular custom). If according to the prevalent custom the sock is strong enough for walking, i.e. walking without shoes, it will be valid for masah otherwise not.
From the description of the khuffain given by the Four Math-habs, it is obvious that there is consensus on the fact that the socks are of a special type in which walking without shoes is possible without the socks tearing. The normal socks worn in this day lack in this quality.
This second shart (condition) is thus not to be found in woollen, cotton and nylon socks.
• The socks must be rigid enough to be able to remain intact on the leg without tying with laces/string. If the socks slides down while walking as do ordinary socks, masah thereon is not valid.
• The socks should be impervious, i.e. water should not be able to seep through as it would in the case of ordinary socks.
• The foot should not be visible through the sock.
The significance of these conditions can be better understood from the stringent condition imposed by Imaam Maalik (rahmatullah alayh). According to him, the khuffain must necessarily be of leather. Masah is not valid on khuffain of any material besides leather even if the conditions which are found in leather khuffain do exist in khuffain of other materials. This is the stringent requirement of the Maaliki Math- hab. The other three Math-habs too have their stringent requirements for the validity of masah.
The illustrious Fuqaha and Imaams of the Math-habs were Men of Knowledge of the Khairul Quroon. Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) commanding honour and obedience to them, said: “Honour my Sahaabah, for verily they are the noblest of you, then those who come after them (the Taabieen), then those after them (the Tab-e- Taabieen). ”
It is inconceivable that these illustrious authorities of the Shariah of the Khairul Quroon who had all unanimously based the validity of Masah Alal Khuffain on several conditions had violated the Sunnah in so doing. Such is the opinion of the ignoramuses of this age who submit the Ahaadith to their whimsical desires and corrupt opinion.
The Authorities — the illustrious Aimmah-e-Mujtahideen - did not glean their masaail (rules) from Hadith Books compiled a couple of centuries after Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam). They acquired their Ilm first hand from the Sahaabah and the Students of the Sahaabah. The ludicrous opinions of the Ghair Muqallideen of this age in which we are, cannot override the fourteen century Practice of the Ummah —a Practice acquired from the highest ranking Authorities of Islam -the Sahaabah and the Aimmah-e-Mujtahideen.
No Muslim stands in need of profound knowledge not a high grade of intelligence to understand that any opinion or idea which develops in this age and which is in conflict of the Laws of Islam which have been transmitted by authentic narration from the earliest age of this Deen, can never be part of the Shariah. The Deen was perfected in the very age of Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam). The Qur’aan and the Sunnah cannot be subjected to the interpretation of the men of this age.
It is the height of folly for people -these Ghair Muqallideen —in this era to cite a Hadith in substantiation of their fallacies, and to then aver that the Aimmah and Fuqaha of the entire Ummah have erred in the rulings which they had issued fourteen centuries ago. For correct comprehension of the masaa-il of the Shariah when viewing these laws in the light of the Ahaadith contained in the later compilations of Hadith Kutub such as Bukhaari, Muslim, Abu Dawood, etc., it is essential to understand that the Aimmah Mujtahideen who were the first Students of the Sahaabah were the greatest Authorities of Hadith, not Imaam Bukhaari, Imaam Muslim, and others (rahmatullah alayhim). The Aimmah Fuqaha by virtue of their investiture as Authorities of the Shariah by the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu annum) formulated the masaa-il on the basis of the authentic Ahaadith they acquired from the Sahaabah and the Students of the Sahaabah. These Authorities of the Shariah did not have to wait to be resurrected from their graves until the compilation of the Hadith books in the third century of the Islamic era, to enable them to systematically formulate and codify the Laws of Islam, i.e. the Shariah, for the eternal benefit of posterity.
When the Ahkaam (Laws and Rules) of the Shariah had no need to wait for the advent of the great Muhadditheen such as Imaam Bukhaari and Imaam Muslim (rahmatullah alayhima), then it will indeed be folly and insanity Islamically speaking to even suggest (as the Salad doctrine implies) that there was a need to wait fourteen hundred years for the likes of Al-Albaani (the Salafi Imaam of this century) to surface on earth to rectify the “errors of exposition” presented by the Students of the Sahaabah (the Aimmah). For such ludicrous averments, there is the following Qur’aanic response:
“When the jaahiloon address them (the Mu ‘mineen), they say: ‘Salaam’. ” “We do not follow the ignoramuses. ”