The book covered: Ascent to Felicity translated by Faraz A. Khan, written originally by Abu ‘I-Iklas al-Shurunbulali titled Maraaqi ‘l-Sa’aadat
Wounds & Wiping Casts:
A four step consideration must be taken whenever dealing with casts, bandages, and the like:
- Can the injured limb itself be washed? If so, then one must wash it as one would during wudhu
- If it cannot be washed, can it be wiped over with a wet napkin? If so, then one must wipe over it
- If you cannot wipe over the limb directly, then it becomes wajib to wipe over the cast/bandage placed over it
- If it is not possible (due to harm) to wipe over the cast/bandage then it becomes permissible to leave it altogether
Wiping is defined as: wetness touching an area
If someone has wounds on his/her body, but the uninjured is more than injured limbs, he must wash the uninjured and wipe the wounded, as long as it does not cause further harm. Note: For wudhu, it refers to the number of limbs, so let us say both legs and an arm are injured, then one would perform Tayammum. However, if the uninjured outweighed the injured, one would wipe the wounded area, and wash the rest. For ghusl, it depends on the total area of what is injured on the body. Like wudhu, if it exceeds 50%, then it is permissible to perform Tayammum.
Assuming the uninjured is greater than 50% then one could wipe the injured with a wet hand, or wet cloth, however if wiping at all would cause harm, then wiping is not mandatory. And if washing the uninjured limbs inflicted harm on the injured, then one can abstain from washing at all.
If the case or bandage falls off while the limb has not healed, a new cast or bandage maybe placed and it is not necessary to wipe over it (if the original one had already been wiped and you are still within that state of wudhu.
Side note: wiping a cast does not require intention, unlike with tayammum and neither does it have a timeline, unlike with khuff. If a second cast is placed on top of the first, only the first has to be washed, and water seeping underneath does not nullify the wiping. If the cast falls off or is removed once the injury has healed, one may wash (wiping is no longer permissible since that was only allowable when the injury was present) that portion only if they are in a state of wudhu and this would suffice.