According to Shia jurisprudence, the feet are exempted from washing and only the passes as mentioned before are enough, whether one is wearing socks or not. According to some more rigid schools of thought like the Wahhabis, ordinary socks, whether they be woollen or cotton are not enough. Socks have to be made of thin leather which is impervious to dust and moisture, etc., in order to avail of such concession.
According to some other schools, this attitude is too strict and makes one slave to superficialities which is not in the true spirit of Islam. The Holy Prophet(sa) described the spirit of Islam by saying:
Transliteration:
Innaddina Yusrun.
Translation:
Indeed it is a religion of ease. (Bukhari, Kitabul-Iman)
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community agree with this. They consider the best policy is to apply common sense. So, if a pair of socks are thick enough to protect one’s feet from dirt and filth, the question of which material they are made of does not arise.