Short answer
Khuffs are leather socks or boots that cover the foot up to and including the ankles. You may wipe over them in wudu instead of washing your feet. In the Hanafi school, ankle boots that meet the same conditions count, but ordinary shoes and trainers that leave the ankle bare do not. The four schools allow wiping over leather khuffs.
Wiping is valid over a khuff that covers the ankles, is worn over feet washed in wudu (with the wudu complete before it first breaks), stays on by itself, is strong enough to walk about three miles in, and has no tear the size of three small toes. Leather or not, footwear that meets these conditions is a khuff. Shoes below the ankle and ordinary thin socks cannot be wiped over.
Other madhhabs
- Hanbali
- Also allows wiping over ordinary socks that cover the foot and stay up on their own.
Explanation
Wiping over khuffs (in Arabic, khuff, plural khifaf) is one of the best established sunnahs of wudu (ablution). On a journey, al-Mughirah reached to pull off the Prophet's ﷺ khuffs, and he told him to leave them, since he had put them on with clean feet, and wiped over them. Scholars of all four schools accept it, and Hanafi scholars said that denying it is a sign of leaving the way of Ahl al-Sunnah.
A khuff in the Hanafi school must:
- cover the whole foot up to and including the ankle bones
- be worn over feet washed in wudu, with the wudu complete before it first breaks
- be strong enough to walk about three miles (one farsakh) in
- stay on the foot without being tied up
- have no tear that shows the size of three small toes
Applying this to modern footwear:
- Leather khuffs sold for wudu: yes.
- Leather ankle boots that cover the ankle bone and fit closely: yes. The zip must be closed.
- Waterproof hiking or work boots covering the ankle: many Hanafi muftis allow them if they meet the conditions.
- Shoes, trainers and loafers below the ankle: no. Take them off and wash your feet.
- Thick non-leather socks: only if they meet all the khuff conditions: so thick and firm that water does not soak through, staying up on their own, and strong enough to walk a long way in.
- Ordinary cotton, wool or nylon socks: no, in the Hanafi school. See wiping over socks.
Men in ihram cannot wear khuffs covering the ankles, so they wash their feet. For the time limit, how to wipe and what ends it, see how long you can wipe over khuffs.
The evidence
Sahih al-Bukhari 206
Sahih... دعهما فاني ادخلتهما طاهرتين ...
"Leave them, for I put them on when my feet were clean."
Shows wiping over khuffs and the condition of putting them on in a state of wudu.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Taharat, chapter on wiping over khuffs. Conditions of the khuff and the size of a tear that prevents wiping.
- al-Durr al-Mukhtar with Radd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on wiping over khuffs. Footwear other than leather that meets the conditions of a khuff.
- al-Mughni (Ibn Qudama), Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on wiping over khuffs. The Hanbali view on wiping over socks.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.