The Khuff Of The Prophet Muhammad SAW

Khuffs are waterproof leather socks which meet certain requirements in Shari'ah that could be used through Solat with a special Wudhu procedure. In brief - when a person has performed Wudhu and then puts on his Khuffs, then if he break Wudhu while wearing the Khuffs; he may proceed to performing Wudhu again, and when the order comes to wash the feet - he wipes his wet fingers on the top of his Khuffs instead of taking them off to wash his feet. This is a special concession.

The Prophet Muhammad SAW used different types of Khuffs. The etiquette of wearing Khuffs is that the right one should be put on first. Before wearing the Khuffs, the inside should be cleansed and dusted out. The reason being that in the Imam Tabrani RA's kitab - "Mu'jizaat" ("Miracles"), Imam Tabrani RA has written a narration on Khuffs in which Rasulullah SAW once while in the jungle, had on one of his Khuffs and as he began to put on the second one, a crow came and took away that Khuff, flew into the sky and dropped it. What had actually happened was that a snake had entered that Khuff! When the Khuff fell, the snake got injured and came out. Rasulullah SAW thanked Almighty Allah for His help and made it etiquette of the Khuff, that the inside be cleaned out before putting them on.

Imam Tirmidhi RA quoted two Ahadith discussing the Khuff.


HADITH 1

Buraydah RA says:

"Najaashi sent two simple black-coloured Khuffs as a gift to Rasulullah SAW. He wore these and made Masah (wiping wet fingers) over after performing Wudhu."


COMMENTARY

Najaashi was the title of kings of Abyssinia (Old Christian Ethiopia), just like how Sharif was the title of the rulers of Makkah. The name of this Najaashi was As-hamah, who later became a Muslim. The Ulama have deduced from the above Hadith that it is permissible to accept a gift of a non-believer. Najaashi had not yet accepted Islam at the time of sending the gift. The Ulama have therefore summed up these in different ways.


HADITH 2

Mughirah bin Shu'bah RA relates:

"Dihyah Kalbi sent Khuffs as a gift to Rasulullah SAW."

In another narration it is stated that with the Khuffs, a Jubbah was also sent. Rasulullah SAW did not inquire if the skin was from slaughtered animals or not.

The last sentence of this Hadith strengthens the ruling in most Schools of Jurisprudence of the Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama'ah that it is permissible to use tanned skin of an animal whether it is slaughtered according to Shari'ah or not. Tanning is a process that involves removal of blood, clots, hair etc. of the skin of an animal with a particular mixture or chemicals and its respective drying at the end.