What is the ruling on walking barefoot, and did the Sunnah command it constantly or only at times? How is this Sunnah applied in our reality today?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Well, the issue, O Shaykh, of walking barefoot.
The Shaykh : Walking barefoot.
The questioner : That is, a person walks barefoot.
The Shaykh : That is, he used to walk barefoot.
The questioner : He does it sometimes.
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
The questioner : It is from the Sunnah.
The Shaykh : Rather, we were commanded to walk barefoot sometimes. But here is something I remember well: when we were in Damascus, we used to go on trips with the Muslim Brotherhood. We would promote a village called Mada'a. It has a mountain, yes, not the Mada'a mountain that overlooks the spring, not here, I mean, you want to say like this mountain. So I would go down barefoot, I would go down barefoot. Why? Because I would remind myself of the saying: "When your wind blows, seize it." Today, if it is religiously disliked for a person to wear clothing that differs from the people around him...
The questioner : ...known to the people.
The Shaykh : ...clothes of fame. So if someone wants to walk barefoot today in the middle of the city, he will become the laughingstock of the age. It is true that we say we do not care about people, but we also say that the price of not caring is embarrassing. So, a person must be practical, not theoretical. For example, in the house, let him walk barefoot. I see some people in the middle of the house, and the house is carpeted, not only with mats but with rugs, yet they must wear slippers and do not walk barefoot. This is part of the luxury we were warned against. So, walking barefoot is part of Islamic upbringing, but the circumstances in which the Muslim lives must be taken into account.
The questioner : Sometimes, O Shaykh, in narrow circumstances and rare cases, like me, who lives in the mosque. My house is adjacent to the mosque, and I am the imam of the mosque, and the distance is short, and there is not this number of people. I go out from the house to the mosque barefoot.
The Shaykh : Yes...
The Shaykh : Walking barefoot.
The questioner : That is, a person walks barefoot.
The Shaykh : That is, he used to walk barefoot.
The questioner : He does it sometimes.
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
The questioner : It is from the Sunnah.
The Shaykh : Rather, we were commanded to walk barefoot sometimes. But here is something I remember well: when we were in Damascus, we used to go on trips with the Muslim Brotherhood. We would promote a village called Mada'a. It has a mountain, yes, not the Mada'a mountain that overlooks the spring, not here, I mean, you want to say like this mountain. So I would go down barefoot, I would go down barefoot. Why? Because I would remind myself of the saying: "When your wind blows, seize it." Today, if it is religiously disliked for a person to wear clothing that differs from the people around him...
The questioner : ...known to the people.
The Shaykh : ...clothes of fame. So if someone wants to walk barefoot today in the middle of the city, he will become the laughingstock of the age. It is true that we say we do not care about people, but we also say that the price of not caring is embarrassing. So, a person must be practical, not theoretical. For example, in the house, let him walk barefoot. I see some people in the middle of the house, and the house is carpeted, not only with mats but with rugs, yet they must wear slippers and do not walk barefoot. This is part of the luxury we were warned against. So, walking barefoot is part of Islamic upbringing, but the circumstances in which the Muslim lives must be taken into account.
The questioner : Sometimes, O Shaykh, in narrow circumstances and rare cases, like me, who lives in the mosque. My house is adjacent to the mosque, and I am the imam of the mosque, and the distance is short, and there is not this number of people. I go out from the house to the mosque barefoot.
The Shaykh : Yes...
Source
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The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.