Warning Against the Issue of Not Distinguishing Between the Izar and Other Garments, Citing the Apparent Meaning of This Hadith and Others

The Shaykh : This leads me to remind you that it is not permissible for a person to say that he should cling to the literal wording of the hadith. The hadith says: "Izar." So a person might say that the pant is not an izar. We say: Yes, the pant is not an izar; in fact, it is not Islamic clothing at all. However, if the Islamic garment, which is the izar, is clothing that involves no pretense or affectation, then it is no wonder that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) made it the garment of the pilgrim and the one performing 'Umrah. If a person lengthens this beyond the prescribed limit, even if it is merely permissible, he is sinful and in the Fire. So it is even more so, and even more so, that he is sinful, and more so, for the one who wears the clothing of the disbelievers, which is this pant.
This confirms for you that there is a hadith which says: The ruling on isbal in the izar is also applicable to the shirt and the end of the turban. So lengthening the garment is not specific to the izar, even with this wording, so that the pant would be excluded from this ruling. Because the turban, which has a tail from the back, its lengthening also falls under this ruling. Likewise, the shirt whose sleeve extends beyond the wrists also falls under the prohibited isbal. These are all matters brought by Islam, which have today become forgotten. And we say on many occasions: The reason for this goes back to two things. The first is the distance of the scholars from studying and teaching the Sunnah. The other is the neglect of the rulings of the Shari'ah and their application.
In Egypt, this affliction is very widespread, unfortunately, among the scholars. You cannot find a scholar in that country whose emblem is not the turban. This white turban is, as we mentioned to you, a custom and not a devotional Sunnah. Moreover, it was not in this form that it developed into, at times, a piece of cloth the length of an arm, or two arms, or ten arms, meaning the opposite. Some of the shaykhs there, especially in Egypt, truly have very simple turbans, but in any case, it is the emblem of the scholars and jurists there, unlike in some other countries. Here we see some examples. As "Muhammad 'Abduh" (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "A turban like a tower and a robe like a sack." So in Egypt, this phenomenon of the turban and the robe exists. And indeed, the sleeves are also very wide, but they are long and long, almost touching the ground! You cannot see a scholar there whose robe is not long. Of course, the jibbah in language is not the izar. The izar corresponds to the rida'. The izar, in its common meaning, is a loincloth, meaning what one ties around the waist.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Yes, this is still in use to this day.
So the jibbah is not an izar, of course; it is more than an izar, because it covers the body from top to bottom. So what was said about the izar undoubtedly includes the jibbah. Even if this jibbah is not an izar, the purpose is very clear: it is to get rid of the appearances of arrogance and haughtiness. I say appearances, because here there are actually two matters. One is that a person lengthens his garment, whatever the name of that garment is, intending thereby arrogance, haughtiness, and pomposity. This is one thing.
And another thing is that he does not intend that, but what he wears is long, and it is usually worn by the arrogant and the haughty. So its appearance indicates that, even if his intention is otherwise. The prohibition of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) from lengthening the izar means cutting off these appearances, whether there was an intention or not. Because there is a methodology established by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). And so we find him concerned with these appearances that contradict the Shari'ah in his Companions. And I do not imagine, especially someone like Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman, that he lengthened his izar intending what? Arrogance and pomposity? But it is one of the matters that some people do not pay attention to, and perhaps he did not know that Islam emphasizes, even for one who does not intend that bad purpose, not to lengthen his garment. To Hudhayfah he said, as he said to others: , and to others like him, in expression, and to others like him he said: , and the hadiths in this meaning are many and very many.