The ruling on the prayer of one who lets his garments hang below the ankles, especially if he is an imam
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Fatwa number ( 20238 )
Q: What is the ruling on the prayer of one who lets his garments hang below the ankles , especially if he is an imam? Is it disliked or invalid? And if Your Eminence says it is disliked, what is Your Holiness’s opinion, may Allah preserve you, protect you, and support you, regarding the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) at the end of the hadith narrated by Abu Dawud , in which al-Nawawi said in (Riyad al-Salihin): “Its chain is authentic according to the criteria of Muslim ”: “And Allah, Glorious is His mention, does not accept the prayer of a man who lets his lower garment hang below the ankles.” Does this indicate the invalidity of the prayer, as one of the students of knowledge among us said? Is his statement correct? We seek Your Eminence’s guidance out of the necessity of answering this question, because this matter is widespread among us in Egypt . I am in the state of one who is confused and knows nothing, so I hope Your Holiness will detail this issue so that I may have no doubt regarding it, and may Allah reward you with good.
A: Letting garments hang below the ankles is forbidden, whether it is a shirt, trousers, or anything else. A severe warning has been reported regarding the one who lets his garments hang, including the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him):Sunan an-Nasa'i 5331Sahih (Darussalam) It was narrated by al-Bukhari and Imam Ahmad and others. And his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): It was narrated by Imam Muslim and Ahmad and al-Nasa'i . And whoever prays while letting his garments hang below the ankles
his prayer is valid in itself if he fulfills its conditions, pillars, and obligations, but he is sinful and deserving of punishment for letting his garments hang. As for the hadith mentioned in the question, it was narrated by Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) in the wording: He said: This hadith is not authentic, and al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) erred in authenticating it; rather, it is weak, because its chain contains an unknown narrator and a deceiver who did not explicitly state the chain. And even if it were authentic, the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) for this man who let his garment hang to renew his ablution was a deterrent to draw his attention to the sin of letting his garment hang that he had committed, so that he might realize the seriousness of what he did and the ugliness of what he committed, and thus abandon it and stop doing it, so that his outward and inward purity would be complete. For letting garments hang is a place of arrogance and vanity, and a call to them, and outward purity affects inward purity. Also, his command (peace and blessings be upon him) to perform ablution was to be a cause for the forgiveness of that sin he committed, which resulted in the anger of Allah upon him and the non-acceptance of his prayer. For ablution expiates sins, erases faults, extinguishes disobedience, and removes its causes, just as ablution extinguishes anger. And what indicates this is what was narrated by 'Ali ibn Abi Talib from Abu Bakr
(may Allah be pleased with them both). He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Musnad Ahmad 47, 48Sahih (Darussalam) This hadith was narrated by Imam Ahmad and the authors of the Sunan with an authentic chain. As for the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the previous hadith: Sunan Abi Dawud 638Da'if (Al-Albani) This is a warning and a threat for deterrence and prevention, which is to be taken at its apparent meaning. The prayer is sufficient for him, discharging his obligation if he performed it while letting his garment hang, but that does not imply that his prayer is invalid. The prayer is valid in itself, as mentioned before, even if it is not accepted by Allah. And what indicates this is what was narrated by Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Riyad as-Salihin 1851 This hadith was narrated by Imam Muslim in (his Sahih) and Imam Ahmad in (his Musnad). Since letting garments hang is a place of arrogance and vanity and a call to them, and that contradicts humility and submission to Allah, it was a danger for the one who lets his garment hang that Allah would not accept his prayer from him. For Allah does not accept from His servant except the one who is humble and modest. And the more a person turns to Allah, is humble before Him, submits and supplicates between His hands, and stays away from sins, the more he is accepted by Him. Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Ma'idah 5:27]. So it is fitting for every Muslim man to stay away from this great sin
and this great crime that stands between him and the acceptance of his prayer, and to abandon it and repent with sincere repentance, and to draw near to Allah the Exalted with what brings him near to Him, and to stay away from everything that angers Him, so that he may attain His pleasure and His Paradise, and be safe from His painful punishment and retribution. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and his Companions.
Q: What is the ruling on the prayer of one who lets his garments hang below the ankles , especially if he is an imam? Is it disliked or invalid? And if Your Eminence says it is disliked, what is Your Holiness’s opinion, may Allah preserve you, protect you, and support you, regarding the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) at the end of the hadith narrated by Abu Dawud , in which al-Nawawi said in (Riyad al-Salihin): “Its chain is authentic according to the criteria of Muslim ”: “And Allah, Glorious is His mention, does not accept the prayer of a man who lets his lower garment hang below the ankles.” Does this indicate the invalidity of the prayer, as one of the students of knowledge among us said? Is his statement correct? We seek Your Eminence’s guidance out of the necessity of answering this question, because this matter is widespread among us in Egypt . I am in the state of one who is confused and knows nothing, so I hope Your Holiness will detail this issue so that I may have no doubt regarding it, and may Allah reward you with good.
A: Letting garments hang below the ankles is forbidden, whether it is a shirt, trousers, or anything else. A severe warning has been reported regarding the one who lets his garments hang, including the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him):
Whatever of the Izar comes below the ankles is in the Fire.
ما أسفل من الكعبين من الإزار فهو في النارThree people whom Allah will not speak to, nor look at, nor purify, and for them is a painful punishment: the one who lets his lower garment hang, the one who is ungrateful for what he gives, and the one who swears falsely to sell his goods
ثلاثة لا يكلمهم الله ولا ينظر إليهم ولا يزكيهم ولهم عذاب أليم: المسبل إزاره والمنان فيما أعطى، والمنفق سلعته بالحلف الكاذبhis prayer is valid in itself if he fulfills its conditions, pillars, and obligations, but he is sinful and deserving of punishment for letting his garments hang. As for the hadith mentioned in the question, it was narrated by Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) in the wording: He said:
While a man was praying with his lower garment hanging, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: “Go and perform ablution.” So he went and performed ablution, then he came back. He said: “Go and perform ablution.” So a man said: “O Messenger of Allah, why did you order him to perform ablution, and then you stopped speaking to him?” He said: “He was praying while letting his lower garment hang, and Allah the Exalted does not accept the prayer of a man who lets his lower garment hang.”
بينما رجل يصلي مسبلاً إزاره فقال له رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: اذهب فتوضأ فذهب فتوضأ ثم جاء، فقال: اذهب فتوضأ فقال له رجل: يا رسول الله: مالك أمرته أن يتوضأ، ثم سكت عنه قال: إنه كان يصلي وهو مسبل إزاره، وإن الله تعالى لا يقبل صلاة رجل مسبل(may Allah be pleased with them both). He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
There is no Muslim who commits a sin then does wudu' and prays two rak'ahs then asks Allah for forgiveness for that sin, but He will forgive him.
ما من مسلم يذنب ذنبًا ثم يتوضأ فيصلي ركعتين ثم يستغفر الله تعالى لذلك الذنب إلا غفر لهdoes not accept the prayer of a man who lets his lower garment trail
وإن الله تعالى لا يقبل صلاة رجل مسبلO people! Allah is Pure and, therefore, accepts only that which is pure.
يا أيها الناس إن الله طيب لا يقبل إلا طيبًاIndeed, Allah only accepts from the righteous [who fear Him].
إِنَّمَا يَتَقَبَّلُ اللَّهُ مِنَ الْمُتَّقِينَand this great crime that stands between him and the acceptance of his prayer, and to abandon it and repent with sincere repentance, and to draw near to Allah the Exalted with what brings him near to Him, and to stay away from everything that angers Him, so that he may attain His pleasure and His Paradise, and be safe from His painful punishment and retribution. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.