MASAH OVER
MESTS - While performing an
ablution, it is permissible both for a man and for a woman to make masah over
their mests once with wet hands instead of washing the feet, even if there is
no excuse or obligation for doing so. Our Prophet
(sall-allâhu alaihi wa sallam) put mests on his blessed feet, made masah on
them and said that is was permissible. One does not make masah on mests when
performing a ghusl ablution or while making a tayammum.
A mest is a waterproof
shoe covering that part of the foot which is fard to wash (in ablution). When
the mests are so big that the toes do not reach the ends of the mests and masah
is made on the vacant sections, masah is not permissible. If the mouths of the
mests are so wide that the feet can be seen when looking down from above, this
will be of no importance. The mests must be strong and fit well enough so that
the feet would not go out of them if one took an hour’s walk. Mests cannot be
made of wood, glass or metal. For one cannot walk for an hour in something
hard. Masah is permissible on any socks whose soles and parts on the toes or
only soles are covered with leather or which are so tough that they will not
fall down when walked in. In the Mâlikî Madhhab, the mests have to be of
leather.When a person wearing
mests loses his ablution, whatever the means, the state of being without an
ablution spreads throughout the limbs of ablution and the mests, but not the
feet. To retain the state of ablution upon the mest, we simply make masah on
them. This indicates that the mests prevent the state of hadas (being without
an ablution) from reaching the feet. Therefore, if a person washes his feet
only, puts on his mests, and
then completes his ablution, and loses his ablution afterwards, he can
make masah on his mests when he performs his ablution later. For it is not
necessary to have performed a complete ablution when putting on the mests[1]. But when his ablution is broken, the broken ablution must be
re-performed completely. For example, if he has put on his mests after making a
tayammum, his ablution which will be broken when he finds water is not
complete; therefore, he cannot make masah when he re-performs the ablution with
water. In this case, he washes his feet, too. If a person with a excuse
performs a complete ablution and puts on his mests before the excuse (e.g.
blood) issues, he can make masah for twenty-four hours even if his ablution is
broken by the excuse. But if he puts them on after the excuse has issued, he
can make masah only within the time of that namâz.
The duration of time
one can continuously make masah on mests is twenty-four hours for a settled
person and three days plus three nights, that is seventy-two hours, for someone
travelling . This duration begins not when one puts on the mests, but when one’s
ablution is broken after putting on the mests. It is written in Fatâwâ-i Khayriyya that the duration of time for
masah for a person with an excuse is until the end of each prayer time for
namâz. If a person with an excuse performs ablution when the cause of his
excuse is over and puts on his mests before the cause begins again, he will
have put them on with tahârat-i kâmila (precise purification), and he can make
masah for twenty-four hours. [In Mâlikî, masah is permissible until one has to
take off the mests for ghusl.]
In the Hanafî Madh-hab,
masah is done on the upper faces of the mests, not under the soles. To perform
the masah in accordance with the sunnat, the entire five moistened fingers of
the right hand are put in their full length on the right mest and fingers of
the left hand on the left mest, then they are drawn up
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[1] In other words, the condition to be observed before putting
on the mests is to make sure that you have washed your feet; once you have
washed your feet and put on your mests, you may then complete your ablution and
from then on utilize the benefit of making masah on your mests till the end of
the prescribed period of time, (unless something to break an ablution happened
between the time you put on your mests and the time you completed your
ablution.). This convenience cannot be utilized by Muslims in the Shâfi'î
Madhhab or those who imitate the Shâfi'î Madhhab, since it is fard in the Shâfi'î
Madhhab to wash the limbs in the prescribed order.
towards the legs beginning from the ends (of the mests) right on the
toes. The palms of the hands must not touch the mests. It is fard that masah
cover an area as wide and as long as three fingers of the hand. To do this, it
will be enough to put three fingers or the ends of the fingers which are so wet
that water is dropping from them or the palm of the hand together with the
fingers, or only the palm on the toe end of the mest and to draw them towards
the leg. It is also permissible to put the fingers on the outer side of the
mest and to rub them gently across its width. Though masah with the back of the
hands is permissible as well, it is sunnat to make masah with the inner parts
of the hands. It is not permissible to make masah under the mests, on the sides
of the heels or on the parts towards the legs. [In the Mâlikî Madh-hab, the
right hand is moistened and the lowest parts of the fingers are placed on the
upper end of the right mest. Then, the tip of the thumb being on the left side
and the tips of the other fingers being on the right, the hand is drawn up
towards the mouth (of the mest). Then the moistened hand is put likewise under
the mest and drawn via the back of the heel towards the mouth. Next, the same
procedure is followed with the left mest, yet this time the right hand will be
used for the sole of the mest and the left hand for the upper part. This
practice is mustahab (causes blessings)]. After washing a limb, one can make
masah on the mests with the wetness remaining on the hands. But one cannot make
masah with the wetness remaining from the masah of a limb, e.g. the head or the
neck. If a person who has performed ablution puts on his mests and does not
make masah but instead puts his feet with the mests on into water when he
performs ablution again, this will replace the masah, provided one foot or more
than half of the feet will have not been moistened. If water penetrates and
moistens the feet, he will have to take off his mests and wash his feet, too.
If the outer surface of the mests are moistened by walking on damp grass or by
rain, this replaces the masah, for which intention is unnecessary. If a person
wearing mests sets out for a journey within twenty-four hours after the
breaking of his ablution, he can make masah on his mests for three days plus
three nights. A person who becomes settled after having been a traveller, takes
off his mests and performs ablution by washing his feet, if twenty-four hours
have passed. In the Mâlikî Madh-hab there is no time limit for masah on mests.
If a person puts on
another pair of mests, wellingtons, gloshes, plastic or nylon shoes on
his mests before his ablution is broken, he can make masah on the outer
footwear if they are waterproof. Even if they allow considerable water through,
he can make masah on them, too. For the inner ones will get moistened and he
will have thereby made masah on the inner ones. If he has put on the outer ones
after his ablution has been broken, he can make masah on the inner mests only.
If one of the outer shoes goes off his foot after he has made masah on them, he
must immediately take off the other one, and make masah on the inner mests. It
is permissible as well not to take off the other one and to make masah on it
also.It is not permissible
to make masah on any mest which has a rip large enough to let three toes
through. It is permissible if the rip is smaller than this. In the Mâlikî
Madh-hab, if the rip is smaller than one-third of the foot, masah is
permissible. In Mâlikî, again, whereas it is sunnat for the body and the
clothes to be clean, it is fard for the mests to be clean. If small rips at
several places on a mest amount to three toes if they were put together, it is
not permissible to make masah on it. If one mest has a rip through which two
toes can be seen and the other has a rip which would allow two toes or one to
be seen, one can make masah on them. For (the limit of) three toes covers one
mest, not two. However, the amounts of najâsat or the awrat parts[1] that are seen on a
person’s various limbs are combined and his case is judged accordingly. The rip
that makes masah not permissible is large enough not only to let the points but
the whole of the three toes to be seen. If the rip is on the toes, the toes
will be counted. But if it is at some other part, it must not be large enough
to allow three small toes to be seen. If the rip is longer than three toes, but
if its opening is smaller than three toes, masah is permissible. If a mest is
torn by the seam, and yet if it does not open and the toes cannot be seen,
masah is permissible. If the rent or rip opens and three toes can be seen as
one walks, but even if it does not open when one stops, masah cannot be made.
If vice versa, masah is permissible. Any rent above the heel bones does not
prevent masah no matter how large it is. For it is not necessary for the mests
to cover these parts. It is permissible to make masah on any mests that are
buttoned, fastened, zipped on the tops or sides, or on such shoes. [The mest
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[1] Parts on a person’s body which he must not show to others are called awrat parts. This subject, which is rather detailed, will be explained later in the book.
should not have any
rips or holes according to the Shâfi’î Madhhab].
When the heel of a foot
goes out of the mest, it must be judged that the mest has gone off the foot. Yet
the majority of books state that unless more than half of the foot has left
that part of the mest which is level with he heel bone, the mest will not be
judged to have gone off the foot. Accordingly, the masah of a person is
permissible whose mests are over-sized and whose heels move in and out of the
mests as he walks. His ablution is not broken when walking.
If a mest has a rip
wider than three toes, and yet if its lining is strong and sewn on the mest so
that the foot is not seen, masah on it is permissible.
When one or both of a
person’s feet go out of the mests, his ablution performed by making masah is
not broken at that moment. After he puts on the mests again, the breaking of
his ablution spreads on the feet. If he, therefore, washes only his feet, he
will have completed the ablution during which he made masah. Also, when the
duration of masah is over he washes his feet only. But it has been declared (by
Islamic scholars) that it would be better to perform a new ablution in both
cases. For, muwâlât is sunnat in Hanafî Madhhab and fard in Mâlikî Madhhab.
It is not permissible
to make masah on a turban or skullcap, on a headgear, on a veil or mask, or on
gloves.
It is permissible to
make masah on splints, that is, on strips of wood bound to a broken bone on
both sides. The ointment, the cotton, the wick, the gauze, the plaster, the
bandage or the like, which is put on or in a wound, boil, or cut or crack on
the skin, if it will be harmful to untie it or to take it off, or if after
taking it off washing or masah will harm the wound, we pour water on it if it
is waterproof, e.g. covered with an ointment or rubber. If it lets water
through we make masah on it. If cold water will do harm to a wound, warm water
must be used. If warm water will be harmful it is necessary to make masah on
it. If masah will be harmful, too, we make masah on what is on it. We can make
masah on that part of the bandage coinciding with the healthy part of the skin
as well as on the skin under the bandage. It is acceptable to make masah on
more than half of it. If even this masah will do harm to the wound, we do not
make masah. If it will not be harmful to make masah on it, it is necessary to
make masah. If it will not be harmful to take it off and wash the healthy part
of the skin under it, it is necessary to wash under it. [As it is written in
the book Al-fiqh-u
’alal-madhâhib-il-arba’a, the four Madhhabs are unanimous in the
fact that the permissibility of making masah on a bandage or ointment applied
on a wound is dependent on the condition that washing the wound or making masah
on it will aggravate the wound. Aggravation means a delay in recovery or an
exacerbation of pain]. If, after the masah, it is taken off or falls off before
the wound heals, the masah is not annulled. If it falls off after the wound
heals, it becomes necessary to wash under it. Masah on any of all these things
(which are mentioned above) replaces washing under it. He who makes masah on
one of them is not a person with an excuse. He can be an imâm for others. Any
part which a specialist Muslim doctor has said must not be washed is like a
wound. In making masah on it a man, a woman, a muhdis and a junub are all in
the same category. Intention is not necessary for any of them. Ibni Âbidîn ‘rahmatullâhu ’alaih’, after
explaining the fards in an ablution, writes: “If a person who has a wound or
cut on his hand cannot use water, that is, if he cannot wash his hands with
water or put his face, head, ears or feet in the water he makes tayammum. A
person one part of whose arm or foot has been cut away washes the surface of
the remaining part.” If a prisoner who is fastened by the hands and feet cannot
perform tayammum, without an ablution he makes the rukû’ and sajda without
reciting the sûras. If he cannot do this, either, he performs the namâz
standing by making signs. When he becomes free he performs it again.
A person WITH AN EXCUSE performs ablution whenever he
likes. With this ablution he performs as many fard and supererogatory prayers
of namâz as he likes and reads the Qur’ân as much as he likes. When the
prescribed time of namâz is over, his ablution is broken automatically.
Performing a new ablution after each prayer time arrives, he does every kind of
worship until the time is over. He cannot perform a prayer of namâz with the
ablution he made before the time of the prayer has arrived. With the exception
of early afternoon prayer, he cannot perform any of the other four prayers with
an ablution he has made before the beginning of that prayer time. For, the
beginning of early afternoon prayer is not at the same time the end of another
prayer time. The continuous excuse of a person does not break his ablution
within a prayer time. However, it will be broken by another cause. When the
prayer time is over it will be broken by the excuse, too.
Having an excuse
requires that something is breaking the ablution continuously. A person who,
within the duration of any prayer of namâz which is fard to perform, could not
keep his ablution even as long as to perform only the fard namâz if he made an
ablution at any time from the beginning till the end of the time of the namâz,
becomes an excused person at the moment he notices his excuse. For example, if
one of the causes breaking an ablution exists continuously, such as the blood
of istihâda (see the following chapter), urine and other issues, diarrhoea,
incontinent wind-breaking, the issuing of blood and pus from a wound, the
oozing of blood or any liquid from the nipples, navel, nose, eyes, or ears
because of some pain, that is, if from the beginning till the end of any
prescribed prayer time one could not stop it as long as to make an ablution and
perform only the fard prayer, one becomes a person with an excuse. If the
excuse begins long enough to perform the fard prayer after the arrival of the
prayer time, one waits until it is nearly the end of the prayer time and, if it
has not stopped, makes an ablution at the end of the time and performs the
namâz of the time. After the time of the namâz is over, if it stops within the
time of the next prayer of namâz, one performs one’s former namâz again. If it
never stops from the beginning until the end of the time of the next prayer
time of namâz, this means that one has become a person with an excuse and will
not have to perform one’s former namâz again.
[It is stated in (the
book) Al-fiqh-u-alâ madhâhib-ul-erba’a,
“According to a second report in the Mâlikî Madhhab, for having an ’udhr
(excuse), it will be enough for the involuntary emission that is a result of
some illness and which breaks an ablution to occur only once. It does not need
to continue throughout the duration of time allotted for a prayer of namâz.
Those invalid or old people who suffer involuntary urination or windbreaking
before or during namâz, in case of haraj and difficulty, are permitted to
imitate the Mâlikî Madh-hab lest they should lose their ablution, which would
consequently cost them their namâz; in this case, it will be sahîh for them to
be imâm (and conduct the namâz in jamâ’at).”]
If the excuse of a
person who has an excuse oozes once and only for a little while during the time
of each following prayer of namâz, his excuse will be considered to be going
on. If it never oozes within the time of any namâz, that is, if any time of
namâz elapses without an excuse from the beginning to the end, the
person will no longer be in the state of having an excuse. If his
excuse stops while making an ablution or while performing namâz and does not
begin again until the end of the next following time of namâz, he re-performs
the ablution and the namâz which he performed when he had the excuse. Yet if it
stopped when the namâz was completed, or after having sat as long as the
tashahhud (in the last rak’at), he does not perform the namâz again. As well, a
person who sees water after having performed the namâz by making tayammum does
not perform his namâz again. It is wâjib to stop the excuse by means of some
medicine, by binding it or by sitting and performing the namâz with signs. If
it is expected that one dirham of blood or the like, when washed, will not
spread again until the namâz is performed, it is wâjib to wash it. [An excuse
includes only the things that break an ablution. A person who cannot perform an
ablution or ghusl is not a person with an excuse. Depending on the situation,
he makes masah or performs tayammum and performs his namâz like a healthy
person].
In the explanation of
the namâz in jamâ’at (which will be explained in detail in Chapter 20), it is
stated that a person with an excuse cannot be an imâm for healthy people. In
this context, in addition to being without an ablution continuously, having
more than one dirham of najâsat on you and being naked and being unable to read
the Qur’ân al-kerîm correctly are counted
as excuses. Therefore, a person with one of these excuses cannot be an imâm for
those who do not have these excuses. Also, it is explained in the section on
ghusl ablution that a person with a filled or crowned tooth should imitate
(follow) the Shâfi’î or Mâlikî Madhhab in order to be the imâm of the namâz for
the Hanafîs who are without filled or crowned teeth. [Please see chapter 20!]
A sick person who has an excuse can make up his prayers which he did not perform when he did not have an excuse.