Which is more appropriate: to adopt the opinion of contemporary scholars on certain issues, or the opinion of one of the four Imams, such as the issue of whether removing the khuffayn (leather socks) invalidates wiping over them or not?

The early scholars have a merit and virtue over the later ones because they are more deeply rooted in knowledge. However, this does not mean that the sayings of the early scholars are definitively correct, or that the sayings of the later ones are definitively wrong. For Allah may grant insight to the later scholars, and what truly matters is alignment with the شرعي (Islamic legal) evidence. As for the issue of removing the khuff (leather socks) or jawrab (regular socks) after wiping over them, the ritual purity does not become invalid. This opinion is not exclusive to the later scholars; rather, more than one of the early scholars also held it.