The Shaykh’s citation of the hadith of the Companion 'Amr ibn Fulan, “While he was walking with his lower garment hanging down, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) caught up with him…”

The Shaykh: So listen to this hadith with me now, and pay attention to the commentary that follows. This hadith is narrated by Imam Ahmad in his "Musnad," which is a comprehensive collection of many fine hadiths, with a strong chain of narration, from 'Amr ibn Fulan al-Ansari. The name of the Companion 'Amr slipped the mind of the narrator, so he said: from 'Amr ibn Fulan al-Ansari. He said: While he was walking with his lower garment hanging down, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) caught up with him, and he took hold of the forelock of his head while saying: . 'Amr said: I said: O Messenger of Allah, I am a man with thin legs. He said: The crux of the matter lies in this address from the noble Messenger. He said: . The answer was his saying: I am a man with thin legs; meaning: slender; that is, "bony." So everyone who sees him might laugh. O 'Amr, indeed Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has made good everything He created. O 'Amr – and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) placed four fingers of his right hand under 'Amr’s knee, four fingers below the knee – then he said: يا عمرو ، هذا موضع الإزار O Amr, this is the place for the lower garment., then he did that a second time; that is, he placed four fingers under the first four fingers, then lifted them, then placed them under the second set. How many fingers do we have now?

Those present: Twelve.

The Shaykh: Twelve, four and four and four. Then he lifted them and placed them under the second set, and he said: يا عمرو ، هذا موضع الإزار O Amr, this is the place for the lower garment. The hadith ends here.
Notice with me first that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was shocked and the matter of this Companion was great to him, that he would walk with his lower garment hanging down. This is indicated by the fact that he placed his hand on his forelock. This is as if it is a custom still known among some people; when a person is shocked by something, he puts his hand on what? On his head. This is what the Messenger (peace be upon him) did. Then he turned to his Lord (Mighty and Majestic) supplicating to Him to forgive this Ansari 'Amr for this act of his. But he said this word so that 'Amr could hear it, or he directed it to 'Amr. And so 'Amr’s answer was an excuse, saying: O Messenger of Allah, I am a man with thin legs; meaning: slender. And I said that people usually notice the thinness and slenderness of the legs. Most people, in reality, do not reflect on this truth to which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) drew the attention of this man whom Allah created with thin legs. He said to him: إنَّ كلَّ شيء خَلَقَه الله - عز وجل - فهو حَسَن Indeed, everything that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has created is good.; أَحْسَنَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ خَلَقَهُ perfected everything which He created[As-Sajdah 32:7] as is the explicit Qur'anic text.
This instruction from the Messenger (peace be upon him) intends, first, to emphasize the fact that this person is not pleased that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) created him with thin legs. The second reason – and this is the most important – is the other people who see this man, who is a creation of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with thin legs, and this thinness does not please them. Beware of that; because this is the creation of Allah, and everything that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has created is good. I say this while I recall that there is a story or hadith that occurred during the time of the Messenger (peace be upon him) while he was traveling, and it was perhaps during the Farewell Pilgrimage, I do not remember now. And 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud was with him. So when he climbed a tree to pick fruit from it, perhaps it was the fruit of the acacia tree, and it is not hidden from you that the legs of a person who climbs are more exposed than if he were on the ground, even if his lower garment was according to the Sunnah, below the knee. When some of the Companions saw him, they laughed. This was an impulse and a response to the nature with which a human is created, unless he is refined by the refinement of the wise Lawgiver. So the answer of the Messenger (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him) was that he said to those around him: إنَّهما أثقل من أحد في الميزان يوم القيامة Indeed, they are heavier than anyone else on the scale on the Day of Resurrection., the thin, slender legs of Ibn Mas'ud.
So we find our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in this hadith, first, trying to soften the impact of this creation, which may not please some people, or even the man himself. So he drew his attention to the fact that all of Allah’s creation is good. And this is what we used to say. Here is the first witness from this hadith to the reality. When we say: When Allah (Mighty and Majestic) created the man with a beard and the woman without a beard, He did not create this in vain. He did not make this difference like this without wisdom or purpose. Rather, all of Allah’s (Mighty and Majestic) creation is good. If the general system is always and forever that the man has a beard and the woman does not have a beard, and then we see some of what is called today "deviants," which is a man who is a hermaphrodite with no beard, and a woman who has a beard; then this – also – is not in vain. Rather, this, as we have said repeatedly, is to draw the attention of the atheists and heretics who do not believe in Allah (Mighty and Majestic) that He is the One who created this universe and made good His creation, as you heard. So from the beauty of His creation is that He draws the attention of His servants that the matter is not a mutation or a coincidence. The man has a beard and the woman does not have a beard. Look, He creates for you a man without a beard, who is the hermaphrodite, and a woman with a beard. So this is the creation of Allah. We must remember this truth. What Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has created is good, and it is not permissible for a person to consider it ugly.
The Messenger (peace be upon him) drew the attention of this Companion to this truth, as if he was consoling him if he had something in his heart about the thinness of his legs. Then he rejected his excuse for lengthening his lower garment because of this thinness; because this is not an excuse for what has preceded, that it is the creation of Allah. And so he said to him: هذا موضع الإزار This is the place for the lower garment.. Even though you see that you have such an excuse, which is the thinness of the legs, and you make your lower garment long to cover this defect in the eyes of some people, this is never an excuse for you; because this is the creation of Allah, and you are not responsible for it. So you must adhere to the methodology that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) legislated through His tongue (peace be upon him) regarding not lengthening the lower garment. This hadith, like many hadiths, explains the levels of the lower garment and the places where it is prescribed, permissible, or forbidden. First, it says this is the place of the lower garment, four fingers below the knee; that is, this is the best. And so was the lower garment of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). This is a characteristic and a Muhammadan law that he legislated for the believing Muslims, truly believing in him, that the lower garment should not be long, as a recommended practice, not as an obligation or a duty, below the knee by four fingers, approximately four fingers. Then the second level is four more fingers below that; this is the second level. The third level of permissibility is below the second four; that is, below twelve fingers; this is permissible. This hadith is explicit in that. Other hadiths came in the Sahih and others: And what is below the ankles is in the Fire; ما أسفل الكعبين فهو في النار but what comes lower than the ankles is in HellSunan Abi Dawud 4093, many hadiths contain this.