Is there a text indicating the obligation to cover the visible part of a woman's feet in prayer?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Well, my Shaykh, I asked a question about a woman covering her feet in prayer, and I heard from you the statement that it is obligatory to cover the visible part of the foot. Is there a text regarding this?
The Shaykh : First, the ruling you heard is derived from evidence in the Book and the Sunnah. This evidence obligates the woman to lengthen her garment, which necessitates covering her feet. Among this is the saying of Allah, the Exalted:[An-Nur 24:31]. So this text... regarding the hadith... about one span and two spans, implies that the custom of the Muslim women who were commanded to observe hijab was to lengthen their garments. The one among them who was morally deviant could not expose any part of her feet or her anklets placed on her feet, because they were covered. So Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, admonished them, saying to them: If you cannot refrain from exposing, do not draw the attention of men to you by striking your feet so that they know what you conceal of your adornment. If we understand this and add to it the well-known hadith of the command of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to lengthen her garment by one span, then another span, this means that the woman is entirely an 'awrah (part of the body that must be covered), and it is not permissible for her to expose any part of her 'awrah in her prayer. Therefore, covering the feet is obligatory, and exposing them is exposing the 'awrah. As for the rest of the foot, it is self-evident that it is covered when the woman is standing or, for example, sitting in a normal sitting position. If the woman prostrates and something of the sole of her foot is exposed, this is a matter in which the woman is not obligated to exert herself and strive with all effort to ensure that the sole of her foot does not appear. So from here I said what I said previously.
The questioner : Yes, but does not the text regarding dragging the garment indicate that this is in the case of the woman going out, and not in the case of her praying in the bottom of her house in a dark room?
The Shaykh : Good, it is so, but what is not necessary about that? Is it not necessary that—and peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings—her feet are part of the 'awrah?
The questioner : For example, as it appears to people in the street.
The Shaykh : Yes, very well.
The questioner : But if she is praying in the bottom of her house.
The Shaykh : So if she exposes something of her arm in her prayer, what is the ruling of that? Then I know the answer, what is the evidence for that? It is my evidence.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Is that clear?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And it does not need clarification?
The questioner : I mean, it would be desirable if...
The Shaykh : I mean, I say we do not have evidence to convince every person according to his knowledge or his ignorance, according to his piety or his desire. We do not have a specific evidence for every detail of the issues related to the 'awrah of the woman. So I gave an example, and the arm of the woman is 'awrah. A person might say, as I related, and I do not say as I said, a person might say: Is the prayer valid if she exposes her arms? We say no. What is the evidence? There is no specific evidence other than that this arm is part of the 'awrah of the woman. No one should expect that we will bring them evidence for every detail and every thought that comes to the mind of any questioner. So I say that the exposure of the sole of the woman's foot is a matter that cannot be guaranteed not to happen, and the Shari'ah does not address such an issue because it is in the category of the well-known. If something appears without the intention of the woman, which was in the category of the covered, then there is no blame on her. So the statement regarding the 'awrah of the woman is like the statement regarding the 'awrah of the man. It is obligatory for him to cover his 'awrah, just as she is. If what is between the navel and the knee is part of the 'awrah, and then the garment slips down a little so that the lower part of the thigh and above the knee appears, it is not said, for example, that he has sinned or that his prayer is invalid, because he was originally covering his 'awrah. Similarly, it is said regarding the woman: if she was covering her 'awrah completely, and then during her standing or prostration, something of the sole of her foot appeared, this falls under the generality of the saying of Allah, the Exalted:[Al-Baqarah 2:286].
The questioner : Well, one question.
The Shaykh : Last question.
The Shaykh : First, the ruling you heard is derived from evidence in the Book and the Sunnah. This evidence obligates the woman to lengthen her garment, which necessitates covering her feet. Among this is the saying of Allah, the Exalted:
And let them not stamp their feet to make known what they conceal of their adornment
وَلَا يَضْرِبْنَ بِأَرْجُلِهِنَّ لِيُعْلَمَ مَا يُخْفِينَ مِنْ زِينَتِهِنَّThe questioner : Yes, but does not the text regarding dragging the garment indicate that this is in the case of the woman going out, and not in the case of her praying in the bottom of her house in a dark room?
The Shaykh : Good, it is so, but what is not necessary about that? Is it not necessary that—and peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings—her feet are part of the 'awrah?
The questioner : For example, as it appears to people in the street.
The Shaykh : Yes, very well.
The questioner : But if she is praying in the bottom of her house.
The Shaykh : So if she exposes something of her arm in her prayer, what is the ruling of that? Then I know the answer, what is the evidence for that? It is my evidence.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Is that clear?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And it does not need clarification?
The questioner : I mean, it would be desirable if...
The Shaykh : I mean, I say we do not have evidence to convince every person according to his knowledge or his ignorance, according to his piety or his desire. We do not have a specific evidence for every detail of the issues related to the 'awrah of the woman. So I gave an example, and the arm of the woman is 'awrah. A person might say, as I related, and I do not say as I said, a person might say: Is the prayer valid if she exposes her arms? We say no. What is the evidence? There is no specific evidence other than that this arm is part of the 'awrah of the woman. No one should expect that we will bring them evidence for every detail and every thought that comes to the mind of any questioner. So I say that the exposure of the sole of the woman's foot is a matter that cannot be guaranteed not to happen, and the Shari'ah does not address such an issue because it is in the category of the well-known. If something appears without the intention of the woman, which was in the category of the covered, then there is no blame on her. So the statement regarding the 'awrah of the woman is like the statement regarding the 'awrah of the man. It is obligatory for him to cover his 'awrah, just as she is. If what is between the navel and the knee is part of the 'awrah, and then the garment slips down a little so that the lower part of the thigh and above the knee appears, it is not said, for example, that he has sinned or that his prayer is invalid, because he was originally covering his 'awrah. Similarly, it is said regarding the woman: if she was covering her 'awrah completely, and then during her standing or prostration, something of the sole of her foot appeared, this falls under the generality of the saying of Allah, the Exalted:
Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity
لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَاThe questioner : Well, one question.
The Shaykh : Last question.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.