Imām Ibn Bāz on Wiping Over a Bandage (al-Mash):
Shaikh Ibn Bāz (Allah’s mercy be upon him) said: There is no doubt that wiping over the splint (al-jabīrah) suffices in place of performing tayammum. Thus, if one wipes over the splint that is on the wound when washing the leg that contains the wound, that is sufficient — praise be to Allah — and there is no need for tayammum. This is what is obligatory upon him when there is a wound covered with bandages or a splint: he should wipe over the splint, covering it entirely with the wiping, and that suffices in place of washing the leg — praise be to Allah, yes.
(Source: Here)
Imām Al-Albāni’s View:
Regarding the hadeeth reported by Abu Dawood (no. 336) wherein Jābir Ibn Abdillah said:
We set out on a journey. During the trip, one of our companions was injured by a stone that hit his head. When he slept, he had a sexual dream. So, he asked his companions: ‘Do you find an excuse for me to perform tayammum?’
They said: ‘We do not find any excuse for you while you can use water.’ So, he took a bath and died. When we came to the Prophet (ﷺ), the incident was reported to him. So, he said:
قَتَلُوهُ قَتَلَهُمُ اللَّهُ أَلاَّ سَأَلُوا إِذْ لَمْ يَعْلَمُوا فَإِنَّمَا شِفَاءُ الْعِيِّ السُّؤَالُ إِنَّمَا كَانَ يَكْفِيهِ أَنْ يَتَيَمَّمَ وَيَعْصِرَ ” . أَوْ ” يَعْصِبَ ” . شَكَّ مُوسَى ” عَلَى جُرْحِهِ خِرْقَةً ثُمَّ يَمْسَحَ عَلَيْهَا وَيَغْسِلَ سَائِرَ جَسَدِهِ ”
‘They killed him, may Allah kill them! Could they not just ask if they did not know? The cure for ignorance is to ask. It would have been sufficient for him to make tayammum and to ‘wrap’ or ‘bind’ a bandage over the wound.’ The narrator, Musa Ibn ʿAbdur-Rahmān al-Antāki, was doubtful. He (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) said: ‘Then he should have wiped over it and washed the rest of his body.’”
Shaikh Al-Albāni said: This narration is good (hasan) without the words: ‘It would have been sufficient for him to make tayammum and to wrap or bind a bandage over the wound. Then he should have wiped over it and washed the rest of his body.’
And he (Allah’s mercy be upon said) stated: What I know is that no authentic hadith has been established from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) concerning wiping over a splint (al-jabīrah) or a bandage (al-ʿisābah). Accordingly, the scholarly principles of Islamic jurisprudence require that the person who has wrapped something around his finger — as mentioned in the question — must perform a complete ablution (wudoo). As for the area that has been wrapped, he is not required to wipe over it, because, as we have mentioned, no authentic hadith exists on the matter.
However, as a matter of precaution, and not as an obligation, it may be said that he should perform tayammum (dry ablution) for that specific area only.
The reasoning for this can be derived from the hadith of ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀs (may Allah be pleased with him), who experienced a wet dream on a very cold night and thus performed tayammum and led the people in prayer while in a state of major ritual impurity (junub) — one may even say, he prayed while being junub.
When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was informed of this, he sent for him and asked him about it. ʿAmr said: “O Messenger of Allah, I had a wet dream on a severely cold night, and I feared harm to myself from the cold, so I performed tayammum, and I recalled the verse in the Qur’an:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ بِكُمْ رَحِيمًا
‘Indeed, Allah is Ever Merciful to you.’”
The Messenger of Allah (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) laughed, and there is no doubt that his laughter constituted approval of what ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀs had done.
This hadith has been transmitted with a sound chain of narration, but there is a version in Saheeh Ibn Hibbān stating that, in addition to performing tayammum, he washed the folds of his body (maghābinahu, i.e. armpits, between the thighs, etc.) and performed ablution (wudoo’). If this narration is authentic, it would be necessary to conclude that a person should combine between tayammum for the state of janābah and washing the folds of the body, so long as he is unable to pour water over his whole body [due to severe cold]. Likewise, by analogy (qiyās), it may be said that one whose finger is wounded should perform tayammum due to the specific area that he cannot wash during ablution.
However, what prevents us from decisively asserting this ruling is that the additional narration found in Saheeh Ibn Hibbān has a weak chain of transmission. Therefore, there is no harm in saying so as a matter of precaution, based on the Prophet’s saying (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam):
دَعْ ما يُريبُك إلى ما لا يُريبك
“Leave that which makes you doubt for that which does not make you doubt.” Otherwise, it suffices for him to perform a complete ablution [for the one who is normally required to make ghusl].
Source:
And Shaikh al-Albāni (Allah’s mercy be upon him) said:
The report of Abu Dawood: “And he wraps or bind a bandage over the wound. Then he should have wiped over it and washed the rest of his body” — has already been explained earlier is a defective (munkar) addition, and thus there is no need to repeat that here.
The second narration: from ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: “One of my forearms was fractured, so I asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about it, and he commanded me to wipe over the splints (al-jabāʾir).”
Al-Hāfidh Ibn Hajar said in Bulūgh al-Marām: “It was narrated by Ibn Mājah with a very weak chain of transmission.” And in the explanation, as-Sanʿānee said: “This hadīth was rejected by Yahyā ibn Maʿīn, Ahmad, and others. They said: That because it is narrated by ʿAmr ibn Khālid al-Wāsiti, who is a liar. It was also reported by al-Dāraqutnī and al-Bayhaqī through two chains even weaker than that.” Al-Nawawī said: “The hadīth scholars are unanimous on the weakness of this narration.”
The Madhhabs
According to the Madhhabs, it is permissible to wipe over a splint or bandage during wudoo’, ghusl, or tayammum. This is the view of the four Madhhabs: the Hanafi, Mālikī, Shāfiʿī, and Hanbalī schools — because the injured area is covered with something that it is legally permissible to cover it with, and therefore, wiping over it is allowed, just as it is permitted to wipe over leather socks (khuffayn).
(Reference: here)
Conclusion
Since there is no specific Hadeeth (that is saheeh), commanding with wiping over bandages, casts or splints that cover areas where wudoo’ or ghusl is performed, then we can conclude that it is not necessary, as Shaikh al-Albāni has stated. And Allah knows best.
Abu Khadeejah.
