The Dislike of Praying in a Garment with Patterns and Colors That Distract

The Shaykh : The mention of this term appeared in a hadith in "Sahih al-Bukhari": . This khamisah, meaning the patterned garment, is red, yellow, and white, and so on. This is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) standing before his Lord, praying, and this khamisah with its green and blue patterns distracts him, and so on. He says: Take it away and turn it away from me. It is a plain, plain garment, not striped and not patterned. Why did he turn the khamisah away from him? He said, "For it distracted me from my prayer." This is the narration of al-Bukhari. And the narration in "al-Muwatta" is: . From this, we derive a legal ruling: when a Muslim stands to pray in a place, that place must be free of any design or ornamentation that might distract him from his prayer. Hence, another hadith came in "Sahih al-Bukhari": . Therefore, a Muslim should not pray in a place with images, ornaments, or designs; because the purpose of his standing before his Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) is to turn away from the world and its adornments to the extent of his ability, not to bring upon himself causes that increase his playfulness or distraction from his Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) while he is praying.