Q: Please advise and give us a Fatwa (legal opinion) concerning the following:First: (Part No. 5; Page No. 238)  is it permissible to perform Wudu' (ablution) and Ghusl (ritual bath) in the bathroom, given that there are faucets available outside the bathroom?Second:What is the ruling on wiping over leather socks? Can it be performed while a person is wearing shoes, or just over the socks? Please advise, and many thanks to you.

A: All praise be to Allah Alone, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger, and his family and Companions! First, if one is able to perform Wudu’ outside the bathroom, it is better, while taking care to pronounce Tasmiyah (saying, "Bismillah [In the Name of Allah]") in the beginning. Otherwise, a person may perform Wudu’ inside the bathroom while protecting themselves from being soiled with Najasah (ritual impurity). Second, a person who performs Wudu’ can wipe over the socks only or the shoes only, if they cover the heels and do not reveal the skin. If they do not cover the heels, they may wipe over them if they are worn over socks that cover the heels and then to wipe over the visible areas of the socks, over the parts required to be washed in Wudu’. They may offer Salah (Prayer) while wearing them, but if they had wiped over both and taken off one of them, they should take off the other. If they had wiped over the socks only, there is no harm in removing the shoes and wearing the socks up to the maximum limit for wiping expires; a day and a night for a resident, and three days and nights for a traveler, if they had put them on while in a state of Taharah (ritual purity). This time is calculated starting from wiping after the occurrence of ceremonial impurity.May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.