If the road to the mosque is asphalt, is it permissible to pray in one's slippers?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : You were kind enough to say that one wipes them with dust, of course.
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner : Regarding purifying the slippers, one wipes them with dust, of course. I emphasize the hadith, and I think it is found in it, but now the streets in Jordan, of course... for example, a person might pass by... it is permissible to pass by the public restrooms... it is permissible...
The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you! Yes.
The questioner : But if you pass by, you find asphalt, walking on asphalt, not on dust!
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Does the same ruling apply to him?
The Shaykh : And then?
The questioner : Walking on dust, perhaps.
The Shaykh : And then? Walking on asphalt, and then?
The questioner : ... Is it permissible for him to enter the mosque?
The Shaykh : From the asphalt to the mosque?
The questioner : What do you mean?
The Shaykh : Be realistic, you are asking about reality!
The questioner : Is it permissible for him to...
The Shaykh : I am asking you a question.
The questioner: Go ahead.
The Shaykh : Enter from the asphalt to the mosque?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And where is this?
The questioner: This is the outcome.
The Shaykh : This does not happen at all, especially when you gave the example of the mosque.
Another questioner : If it did happen, Professor.
The Shaykh : Be patient.
The questioner : This is a real situation, of course, not inside the mosque; he passes by and finds him praying.
The Shaykh : At the mosque door, the one they call the door of the Haram.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: Good.
The questioner : This is the speech.
The Shaykh : What is there before the neighborhood gate?
The questioner : Of course, I beg you, an example... of course, there is an example I saw with my own eyes.
The Shaykh: All right.
The questioner : ... Riyadh, so at the Grand Mosque.
The Shaykh: All right.
The questioner : The imam of the mosque, one of the blind students of Shaykh Ibn Baz, you may know him.
The Shaykh : ... .
The questioner : He passes from the back of the mosque in his slippers to... to the place of the mihrab.
The Shaykh : Good, may Allah give you health.
Another questioner: Amen, O Lord.
The questioner : This is what I want to ask the Professor about, so that I can be reassured.
The Shaykh : What does dust do to the slipper? You noticed just now, it does not remove the moisture in the slipper; correct?
The questioner : Correct...
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : ... I want to say, meaning.
The Shaykh : Excuse me, do not waste our time, I am asking you a simple question, correct; you tell me: correct, not correct; you tell me: not correct. I asked you: what does dust do to the slippers; does it remove the moisture from the slipper?
The questioner: No.
The Shaykh : Say: No.
The questioner: No.
The Shaykh : Okay, now contrary to what was understood from your words regarding the Husayn Mosque, you gave the picture of a mosque where all the ground to the door is asphalt.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Okay, when you do this, do you also assume that there is no dust at all?
The questioner : No, there is dust.
The Shaykh : Okay, can you give me a picture now where it rained, pay attention, can you give me a second picture, it rained and washed it, and the asphalt became like a mirror; is that not so? When you do this with the slipper, it must be one of two things: the slipper has impurity with substance; okay? Or there is no impurity with substance. If it is the first case, meaning: there is impurity with substance in the slipper, when you wipe the slipper with the asphalt, and this which the rain just washed, and immediately the sun came out, completely clean, when he did this, did the substance of the impurity remain or not?
The questioner : With the asphalt.
The Shaykh : With the asphalt?
The questioner : When he did this.
The Shaykh : Substance, if it were like that, if it were not like that? What happened to the substance of the impurity?
The questioner : ... Never mind, let me... on the subject of the shoe.
The Shaykh: [ The Shaykh laughs! ] .
The questioner : The shoe has a heel from here, and the heel has something low and something, there is a space between them.
The Shaykh: Good.
The questioner : This, of course, does not go away...
The Shaykh : Okay, he said: we will catch up on the topic until it is resolved, but this question is not within the scope of reality, but it happens... but why are you making this complication?
The questioner : Because...
The Shaykh : ... The person who is fighting and the enemy is pressuring him, so he takes what? New fortifications; because he is being defeated. At first, you gave me the example of a mosque, what? That from the asphalt to what? The mosque door, this is very rare. You brought me a second picture that was not in your mind; why? Because you realized your mistake. For what are all these complications? When you bring this last picture, I remind you of the hadith, perhaps you memorized it:Sunan ad-Darimi 2:188, okay? He turned his slippers over, stood up, and saw the view that you saw and we did not think of; what does it do?
The questioner : Under the heel.
The Shaykh : Under the heel, between the heels.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, in this case, what does it do? Does the Shari'ah say to him: pray? I am asking you now, and unfortunately, do not take it against me if I say to you: do not lengthen the explanation, tell me what does it do?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : I told you... I want to tell you: there is impurity here, what does it do?
The questioner : He removes it and prays, of course.
The Shaykh : ... The problem, what... what did you gain from the whole round and turn?
The questioner : ... I mean.
The Shaykh : My brother, a round and turn that actually happened, not what is in your heart, this brother of ours is always with us, sitting with us, I am speaking, what... what did you benefit from these questions? You reached the badger's hole, you reached this point, what did you benefit? You do not pray in them, and Allah is sufficient for the believers in fighting.
But take the matters that frequently occur; because the Shari'ah is permissive, easy, and broad, and so on. So why did you come and follow the topic like this until you reached a point where you became restricted? Pray without slippers, and the Messenger - peace be upon him - as came from Ibn 'Umar and others, the Messenger of Allah - peace and blessings be upon him - used to pray barefoot and used to pray wearing slippers.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So what is there? A restricted and narrow picture, one must remove the slippers; they never happen; remove them! We did not reverse the issue, we did not say that it is not permissible for one to pray barefoot, but we say: it is permissible to pray wearing slippers; because the scholars fight the prayer in slippers, meaning a very strange fight, even in our country, we in Albania, a custom they brought to Syria to Damascus; because it is in their minds that prayer in slippers is not permissible, and sometimes they become restricted; because they cannot reconcile some of the jurisprudential texts they have with other texts, there becomes a contradiction, they say in their books - and their saying is the truth - that the Sunnah is that the funeral prayer is prayed outside the mosque, and they are strict in this issue more than necessary, and you know from the rulings of funerals that the Messenger - peace be upon him - used to pray over the funeral in the prayer ground, but sometimes he prayed in the mosque, and this is what we attribute to Allah, the Hanafis except outside the mosque; therefore they adopt a good custom, every cemetery has a prayer ground next to it, of course not to the graves, so they pray the funeral there, and then they bring the funeral to bury it, yes, but this is not always feasible, especially in these countries they migrated to and they do not have this care, what do they do? In summary, our Albanian group finds a place near the cemetery, they remove their slippers and step on them - here is the point - they remove their slippers and stand on them, why did you remove them? It is not permissible to pray in the slipper because it is impure, okay, why did you stand on them? They stood on them because they do not want to step on the ground, they do not know if this ground is pure or impure, meaning a very strange phenomenon!! Even Allah afflicted them with Al-Albani, and they saw from him, the wonder is in the prayer, not just the prayer over the funeral, the obligatory prayer, he used to pray it in his slippers.
The point: The Sunnah is that one prays sometimes barefoot and sometimes wearing slippers, so if a picture like this rare one comes, as you detailed in the picture, remove them and pray... but why do we remove and why do we deny these Najdis - for example - actually he is walking in his slippers to the middle of the mosque, they are truly - Subhan Allah! - meaning people follow customs; how our group that I told you about, they pray in the prayer ground and...
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner : Regarding purifying the slippers, one wipes them with dust, of course. I emphasize the hadith, and I think it is found in it, but now the streets in Jordan, of course... for example, a person might pass by... it is permissible to pass by the public restrooms... it is permissible...
The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you! Yes.
The questioner : But if you pass by, you find asphalt, walking on asphalt, not on dust!
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Does the same ruling apply to him?
The Shaykh : And then?
The questioner : Walking on dust, perhaps.
The Shaykh : And then? Walking on asphalt, and then?
The questioner : ... Is it permissible for him to enter the mosque?
The Shaykh : From the asphalt to the mosque?
The questioner : What do you mean?
The Shaykh : Be realistic, you are asking about reality!
The questioner : Is it permissible for him to...
The Shaykh : I am asking you a question.
The questioner: Go ahead.
The Shaykh : Enter from the asphalt to the mosque?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And where is this?
The questioner: This is the outcome.
The Shaykh : This does not happen at all, especially when you gave the example of the mosque.
Another questioner : If it did happen, Professor.
The Shaykh : Be patient.
The questioner : This is a real situation, of course, not inside the mosque; he passes by and finds him praying.
The Shaykh : At the mosque door, the one they call the door of the Haram.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: Good.
The questioner : This is the speech.
The Shaykh : What is there before the neighborhood gate?
The questioner : Of course, I beg you, an example... of course, there is an example I saw with my own eyes.
The Shaykh: All right.
The questioner : ... Riyadh, so at the Grand Mosque.
The Shaykh: All right.
The questioner : The imam of the mosque, one of the blind students of Shaykh Ibn Baz, you may know him.
The Shaykh : ... .
The questioner : He passes from the back of the mosque in his slippers to... to the place of the mihrab.
The Shaykh : Good, may Allah give you health.
Another questioner: Amen, O Lord.
The questioner : This is what I want to ask the Professor about, so that I can be reassured.
The Shaykh : What does dust do to the slipper? You noticed just now, it does not remove the moisture in the slipper; correct?
The questioner : Correct...
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : ... I want to say, meaning.
The Shaykh : Excuse me, do not waste our time, I am asking you a simple question, correct; you tell me: correct, not correct; you tell me: not correct. I asked you: what does dust do to the slippers; does it remove the moisture from the slipper?
The questioner: No.
The Shaykh : Say: No.
The questioner: No.
The Shaykh : Okay, now contrary to what was understood from your words regarding the Husayn Mosque, you gave the picture of a mosque where all the ground to the door is asphalt.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Okay, when you do this, do you also assume that there is no dust at all?
The questioner : No, there is dust.
The Shaykh : Okay, can you give me a picture now where it rained, pay attention, can you give me a second picture, it rained and washed it, and the asphalt became like a mirror; is that not so? When you do this with the slipper, it must be one of two things: the slipper has impurity with substance; okay? Or there is no impurity with substance. If it is the first case, meaning: there is impurity with substance in the slipper, when you wipe the slipper with the asphalt, and this which the rain just washed, and immediately the sun came out, completely clean, when he did this, did the substance of the impurity remain or not?
The questioner : With the asphalt.
The Shaykh : With the asphalt?
The questioner : When he did this.
The Shaykh : Substance, if it were like that, if it were not like that? What happened to the substance of the impurity?
The questioner : ... Never mind, let me... on the subject of the shoe.
The Shaykh: [ The Shaykh laughs! ] .
The questioner : The shoe has a heel from here, and the heel has something low and something, there is a space between them.
The Shaykh: Good.
The questioner : This, of course, does not go away...
The Shaykh : Okay, he said: we will catch up on the topic until it is resolved, but this question is not within the scope of reality, but it happens... but why are you making this complication?
The questioner : Because...
The Shaykh : ... The person who is fighting and the enemy is pressuring him, so he takes what? New fortifications; because he is being defeated. At first, you gave me the example of a mosque, what? That from the asphalt to what? The mosque door, this is very rare. You brought me a second picture that was not in your mind; why? Because you realized your mistake. For what are all these complications? When you bring this last picture, I remind you of the hadith, perhaps you memorized it:
If one of you comes to the mosque, let him turn his slippers over
إذا جاء أحدكم المسجد فليقلِبْ نعلَيهThe questioner : Under the heel.
The Shaykh : Under the heel, between the heels.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, in this case, what does it do? Does the Shari'ah say to him: pray? I am asking you now, and unfortunately, do not take it against me if I say to you: do not lengthen the explanation, tell me what does it do?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : I told you... I want to tell you: there is impurity here, what does it do?
The questioner : He removes it and prays, of course.
The Shaykh : ... The problem, what... what did you gain from the whole round and turn?
The questioner : ... I mean.
The Shaykh : My brother, a round and turn that actually happened, not what is in your heart, this brother of ours is always with us, sitting with us, I am speaking, what... what did you benefit from these questions? You reached the badger's hole, you reached this point, what did you benefit? You do not pray in them, and Allah is sufficient for the believers in fighting.
But take the matters that frequently occur; because the Shari'ah is permissive, easy, and broad, and so on. So why did you come and follow the topic like this until you reached a point where you became restricted? Pray without slippers, and the Messenger - peace be upon him - as came from Ibn 'Umar and others, the Messenger of Allah - peace and blessings be upon him - used to pray barefoot and used to pray wearing slippers.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So what is there? A restricted and narrow picture, one must remove the slippers; they never happen; remove them! We did not reverse the issue, we did not say that it is not permissible for one to pray barefoot, but we say: it is permissible to pray wearing slippers; because the scholars fight the prayer in slippers, meaning a very strange fight, even in our country, we in Albania, a custom they brought to Syria to Damascus; because it is in their minds that prayer in slippers is not permissible, and sometimes they become restricted; because they cannot reconcile some of the jurisprudential texts they have with other texts, there becomes a contradiction, they say in their books - and their saying is the truth - that the Sunnah is that the funeral prayer is prayed outside the mosque, and they are strict in this issue more than necessary, and you know from the rulings of funerals that the Messenger - peace be upon him - used to pray over the funeral in the prayer ground, but sometimes he prayed in the mosque, and this is what we attribute to Allah, the Hanafis except outside the mosque; therefore they adopt a good custom, every cemetery has a prayer ground next to it, of course not to the graves, so they pray the funeral there, and then they bring the funeral to bury it, yes, but this is not always feasible, especially in these countries they migrated to and they do not have this care, what do they do? In summary, our Albanian group finds a place near the cemetery, they remove their slippers and step on them - here is the point - they remove their slippers and stand on them, why did you remove them? It is not permissible to pray in the slipper because it is impure, okay, why did you stand on them? They stood on them because they do not want to step on the ground, they do not know if this ground is pure or impure, meaning a very strange phenomenon!! Even Allah afflicted them with Al-Albani, and they saw from him, the wonder is in the prayer, not just the prayer over the funeral, the obligatory prayer, he used to pray it in his slippers.
The point: The Sunnah is that one prays sometimes barefoot and sometimes wearing slippers, so if a picture like this rare one comes, as you detailed in the picture, remove them and pray... but why do we remove and why do we deny these Najdis - for example - actually he is walking in his slippers to the middle of the mosque, they are truly - Subhan Allah! - meaning people follow customs; how our group that I told you about, they pray in the prayer ground and...
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.