What is the correct ruling regarding the exposure of the thigh, given that the book *Fiqh al-Sunnah* contains hadiths permitting the exposure of the thigh and hadiths forbidding it?

The questioner : The author of the book *Fiqh al-Sunnah* presents hadiths permitting the exposure of the thigh and hadiths forbidding it; what is the correct position in this matter?

The Shaykh : The hadiths of exposure to which the questioner refers are practical hadiths, meaning that the thigh of the Messenger (peace be upon him) was exposed on one or more occasions. As for the hadiths that consider the thigh to be an awrah (part of the body that must be covered), they are verbal hadiths, meaning that the Messenger (peace be upon him) spoke and said, for example, "The thigh is an awrah." Whatever of his speech (peace be upon him) was directed to his Ummah (the Muslim community) is a general legislation for them. And whatever of his action (may Allah's prayers and blessings be upon him) contradicted his speech—I do not say this absolutely, but rather, whatever of his action (may Allah's prayers and blessings be upon him) contradicted his speech—there is a possibility among three possibilities:
The first possibility: that his action preceded his speech. His speech here: is a legislation that the thigh is an awrah and its exposure is forbidden. When was this legislation? Certainly, it was not on the day Allah the Exalted said: because at that time, he was only commanded to convey to the Ummah the call to tawhid (the oneness of Allah) before anything else, before legislating the rulings of halal (lawful) and haram (forbidden), before encouraging noble morals and forbidding their opposites, before any legislation. It was only So such a statement: was not in the early days of Islam, but rather came after that.
So: we can imagine the Muslims, with their master, indeed the master of all people, Muhammad (may Allah's prayers and blessings be upon him), performing actions in the early days of Islam from which they distanced themselves later, or distanced themselves from them, according to what Allah (Mighty and Majestic) legislated and revealed. On the day he was commanded to convey tawhid to the people, there were no rulings: this is haram, this is halal, exposing the thigh is haram, drinking khamr (intoxicants) is haram, wearing silk is haram. These rulings were not in the early days of Islam. So, it is possible that when the trustworthy Companion narrated that the Messenger exposed his thigh, it may have been before this ruling was revealed to him, which he conveyed to the people by his saying: This is the first possibility.
And the second possibility: that it may have been after the prohibition, i.e., after his saying: but this would be a special privilege for him (may Allah's prayers and blessings be upon him), in which no other person shares with him, because these people were addressed by that ruling which encompasses all of them: In another hadith, it is mentioned that he passed by a man whose thigh was exposed and he said to him: .
And there is a third matter: but I am correcting myself now and saying: that it does not apply to such a matter, because it may be said: if there is a prohibition, that the prohibition is for discouragement (makruh), this is how it is sometimes reconciled. So here, there is no way to say anything other than: either the exposure of the thigh by the Messenger (peace be upon him) was before his saying: or it was a special privilege for him in which no one else shares.
Just as his marriage to more than four women, although he said to the one who had more than that number of women: So this is a general ruling for the Ummah, whereas his marriage to more than four is a specific ruling for him (may Allah's prayers and blessings be upon him).
So, the hadith: is, from the legislative perspective, prior to the hadith of the Messenger (peace be upon him) exposing his thigh, as explained above.
The Shaykh : other than it.