What is the ruling on a man or a woman praying in tight clothing? And what is the description of a woman’s clothing?

The Shaykh : If the top of the feet is exposed, it is part of the 'awrah (nakedness), and we have already given the answer to this in the past. However, if what is exposed is the sole of the feet, the prayer is valid and there is nothing wrong with it, but if you are reminded, you should cover it as well.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : In reality, if the clothing is tight, whether for a man or a woman, this is a matter in which I have not found a text that can be relied upon and applied. However, I say that one should look at the degree of tightness. If it is tight as if the clothing did not exist, we give it the ruling of missing clothing. And if it is as mentioned in the question, socks that cover the feet and do not cause fitnah (temptation), as if the socks were not there, then there is no major fitnah. So, in this state, I cannot say that the prayer is invalid as long as there is no fitnah. And I think the answer is clear, if Allah wills.

The questioner : Some of the brothers do not distinguish between one 'awrah and another, and they say that the major 'awrah is like the feet and the neck, and so on here... the distinction.

The Shaykh : No, my distinction is based on whether it is covered by tight clothing or not. That is all, not based on the exposure itself. I am far from saying this. A woman wears socks that cover the top of her foot, and another woman is not wearing a shirt or a jilbab or anything. This long sock that goes up to the thighs, if she is not wearing anything else.
Would anyone say that the first image, the woman whose only exposed part is her foot covered by the sock, is the same as the one whose thigh is exposed and covered by the sock? Are they equal in causing temptation?

The questioner : No

The Shaykh : This is what I intended. I do not want to say that if she prayed without socks, barefoot, that this 'awrah is a major sin, no problem. Did the difference become clear to you, if Allah wills?

The questioner : Regarding the sin, my question, O Shaykh, relates to the sin.

The Shaykh : Your question was not about that; now it has become related to the sin. There is sin in any case, but the question was about the invalidity of the prayer and the validity of the prayer...

The Shaykh : Please go ahead.

The questioner : Now, if the woman goes out and wears socks, and the socks are known to be tight and not transparent.

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.

The questioner : This going out is permissible.

The Shaykh : No, it is not permissible.

The questioner : Okay, what does she do?

The Shaykh : She lengthens the jilbab so that it covers the top of the feet, yes, whether she is wearing socks or not.

The questioner : Okay, we have tried this practically, it is difficult and there is hardship in it.

The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you.

The questioner : Amen.

The Shaykh : This is a hardship for our women who are not accustomed to covering and modesty. But we want to guide them... what remains, I mean?

The questioner : If the foot is exposed, is she sinful?

The Shaykh : Yes, this is a very strange question. What does the saying of Allah the Exalted mean...

The questioner : Our teacher, she wears socks.

The Shaykh : Yes, I know she wears socks. You are either with us in the two conditions we explained regarding the hijab of the Muslim woman, which are that the clothing covering the 'awrah must not be transparent and must not be tight, or you are not. If it is the first, the matter is settled. And if it is the second, you do not listen to Allah, so you are opening a new discussion now.

The questioner : No, the first, but it has not ended. Maybe I did not understand.

The Shaykh : Please, what ended and what did not end?

The Shaykh : Now I am with you in the first, that it must not be transparent and must not be tight.

The Shaykh : Good, does this sock make the shape visible or not?

The questioner : The shape of the foot.

The Shaykh : You did not answer me.

The questioner : It makes the shape visible.

The Shaykh : Okay, the matter is settled.

The questioner : But as I mentioned, there is no fitnah.

The Shaykh : No problem, my brother, look, when is the expression valid? When do we philosophize the ruling? When we do not have a text. But if the text comes, our position is as Allah the Exalted said: So you know that the text obligates the woman to cover her feet, right or not?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Okay, when the question came about the validity or invalidity of the prayer, I brought that detail. Now, what does not cause hardship, let us call it philosophy, but I am compelled to it. Because I do not have a text for this or that. But this philosophy is not transferred from its subject to contradicting the explicit text that orders the woman not to expose even the top of her feet. So as long as you are with us in the obligation that the clothing must be long and not transparent or tight, then this clothing, which is now the sock, is tight and makes the shape visible, so it is not permissible, and its wearer is sinful.

The questioner : Okay, my teacher, the shoe that the woman wears, if it is exposed, it is also tight. My teacher, we ask many questions and seek clarification because this matter has been greatly disputed among students of knowledge.

The Shaykh : Good, if Allah wills. What is the argument for this disagreement?

The questioner : I mean, the argument for this disagreement is that we feel the great hardship in making the woman drag her garment by a span or an arm's length.

The Shaykh : You are contradicting, and this is not my statement.

The questioner : No, my statement.

The Shaykh : Worse... You are now contradicting the hadith This is a hardship, it is not like that. If someone like you says this.

The questioner : Our Shaykh, the reality is that all our women have their feet exposed from...

The Shaykh : But our women, the girls of today, these are not raised women. Our women are raised on the Salafi call, and therefore we want to care for them properly and carry them with the best way to adhere to the Shari'ah. I, as they say, will not forget. I will not forget my first trip that was provided to me to the Hijaz and then to Riyadh. I saw the women dragging their trails in the roads that were not paved, as you know today, Saudi Arabia, what Allah willed, has no equal, its roads are like those of Europe. They would raise dust because the trail was dragged behind her, meaning a span, and her inner self was saying to the men, stay away from us. But this dragging from behind is not from the front. The front is approximately at the level of the ground. So at that time, there is no hardship that you imagine. This hardship, the reality of what you are imagining, was imagined for you and you did not imagine it. It was imagined for you.

The questioner : It was imagined for me, perhaps.

The Shaykh : You will say to me how, hmm?

The questioner : I bought a long jilbab from Abu Layla, long, and I dressed my wife in it. When she walked, she almost fell.

The Shaykh : True, what do you think of the one who walks on a rope, hmm?

The questioner : Does the sandal make the shape visible?

The Shaykh : No, my brother, the sandal has another problem besides the sock. The sock makes the shape of your foot completely visible. The sandal has holes and pieces and so on. Nevertheless, look, now you are being held accountable like others. You are dealing with matters theoretically. Now, when the woman wants to lengthen the trail, as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) legislated, or as we summarized earlier, that the jilbab must cover the top of the feet, it no longer matters to us whether she is barefoot, covered with socks, or with sandals. Do you see? This whole matter does not concern us. Now, do you know that the women in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), even some of the Mothers of the Believers, did not wear anything under the jilbab, right or not?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : I mean, there is no clothing. I am a man now, wearing clothing and a jilbab, but the women of that time were light, they wore the jilbab and the jilbab was the end of everything. Therefore, the previous question came from the woman: the wind comes and exposes what? Her leg. Now, there is no exposure of the leg because the leg is covered by what? By the sock. So when we carry our women, and as Allah Mighty and Majestic ordered us to care for them, that they lengthen their trails to the extent that they achieve the religious command, the problem of being barefoot, wearing socks, if that is the expression, wearing sandals, no longer matters. Because all of this will be covered. I mean, if she is wearing sandals, is it easier for you or wearing socks?

The questioner : Wearing sandals is easier.

The Shaykh : If she is wearing socks, is it easier, or if she is barefoot?

The questioner : Wearing socks.

The Shaykh : Okay, were the female Companions barefoot, and there is no problem with that? What is the reason?

The questioner : The length of the jilbab.

The Shaykh : The length of the jilbab. If we apply this to our women as it should be, with gentleness and mercy.

The questioner : If, our Shaykh, when Umm Salama came, was it not Umm Salama who asked?

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : Umm Salama spoke: if her leg is exposed, then if the leg is exposed...

The Shaykh : Okay, this is better, but do you say it is obligatory? Look, you have now reversed the matter.

The questioner : The obligation of what?

The Shaykh : The obligation of wearing socks.

The questioner : No, I am not saying it is obligatory to wear socks.

The Shaykh : Then what is your question? I say it is better.

The questioner : If she cannot?

The Shaykh : What does [this] mean?

The questioner : I say that if the jilbab covers the feet completely and the hem of this jilbab is dragged on the ground, then there is no need to wear socks. But if the socks are present, there is no fear of the legs being exposed.

The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you, you want to repeat the same topic in your answer so that we reach the end. Now I am asking you a question: does the sock that covers the leg take the place of the jilbab?

The questioner : It does not take its place.

The Shaykh : So, is the matter clear to you now or not?

The questioner : Is it clear to me or not?

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, that is what we want. Please proceed.