How Long the Wiping Over Leather Socks or Cloth Socks Lasts
Answered by Shaykh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Bāz
The Question
How many times may a Muslim wipe over his leather socks or cloth socks? If he is a resident, made wuḍūʾ, put on thick socks, and a day passed, may he renew the wiping, and how many times may he do so?
The Answer
If a person puts on the leather socks while in a state of purity, he wipes over them for a day and a night after breaking his wuḍūʾ, if he is a resident. But if he is a traveller, he wipes for three days and their nights. This is the period the Prophet ﷺ set.
What comes before the breaking of wuḍūʾ is not counted. If, for example, he put them on in the mid-morning and remained in his state of purity through Ẓuhr, ʿAṣr, Maghrib, and ʿIshāʾ, that is not counted. Rather, it is counted from the moment he breaks his wuḍūʾ after ʿIshāʾ. The day and night begin from the moment he breaks his wuḍūʾ, so the wiping after breaking wuḍūʾ lasts a day and a night.
The point is that the period is counted for him from his breaking of wuḍūʾ, from his wiping after breaking wuḍūʾ.
Source: binbaz.org.sa (Nūr ʿalā al-Darb).