I am working in a remote island and also staying in a camp at a near by island which is also remote.
I do wudhu in morning and wear Wudhu socks and Safety Shoes on top of it. I don’t remove them till I reach back to camp in evening.
All prayers I pray with the shoes on and also wipe over the shoes for wudhu as there is no arrangements to remove shoes and wipe over socks (one wash room with 2 wash basin uses by more than 100 people).
Is my prayers valid.
Bismillahi Ta’ala
Walaikum Assalam Warahmatullah
It is good that you utilize the wudhu socks to make your wudhu’. However since you wear your safety shoes on top of it and do not remove them throughout the day, and instead make masah on them, then this requires further detail.
I am assuming these safety boots are sturdy. So the same conditions which we apply for masah on khuffayn (socks) is required for the boots as well.
As a reminder this is essentially four:
- Cover he feet up to and including the ankle
- Possible to walk 3 Shar’i miles in them
- Must be able to stand on their own without tying.
- Water should not seep through it
Some mashayekh also add that they both independently be free from holes.
If the boots fulfil these conditions, they will be considered Jarmooq and it will be permissible to make masah on them as well. However, in your scenario this means that when you wear them in the morning, you need to make masah on them. In essence, even though you have your wudhu’ socks under it, these boots have now become your khuff. So you will need to make masah on them instead.
In light of the above, choose one. Either the wudhu socks, or the shoes that fulfil the condition and then pray in them.
A secondary issue will be that while walking in these shoes, it is possible that the filth will come onto the soul of these shoes. So always see and clean the bottom of your shoes.
It goes without saying that if it is at all possible to not perform in shoes, then you should always choose to pray without your shoes. This is because due to their rigidity, some of the postures of salah will be affected. Most significantly the sajdah.
Some mashayekh require the condition that feet should be able to touch the ground and not hand within the shoes. So suffice to say that such a situation is not free from concern.
Always try to find mechanism that you do not need to put yourself into doubtful situation when it comes to important ibadah like salah.
A food for thought is that a regular wudhu’ requires only 600ml of water to be completed in sunnah way. So you do not require a washbasin or toilet for this purpose. A portable water bottle with spout is more than enough to practice making full wudhu, while wiping over the socks or shoes (if necessary).
Wallahu A’lam
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Faisal al-Mahmudi