Miscellaneous by Al-Albani-169

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, the comprehensive collection of many fine hadiths, with his strong chain of narration, from Amr ibn Fulan al-Ansari. The name of the Companion slipped the narrator’s mind, so he said 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 grabbed the forelock of his head, saying Amr said, “So I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, I am a man with thin legs’”, and he said The crux of the matter is in this address from the noble Messenger. He said This is the answer to ‘I am a man with thin legs,’ meaning slender legs, meaning... So anyone who sees him might laugh. Then he did it a second time, meaning he placed four fingers under the first four fingers, then lifted them, then placed them under the second set. How many fingers...?
The attendees: Twelve

The Shaykh : Twelve, four and four and four, then he lifted them, then placed them under the second set, and he said The hadith ends. Notice with me first that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was shocked and it was a great matter to him that this Companion was walking with his lower garment hanging down. This is indicated by the fact that he placed his hand on his forelock. This is still known among some people; if something shocks a person, he puts his hand on his head like this. The Messenger (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him) did so, then he turned to his Lord (Mighty and Majestic) supplicating to Him to forgive this Ansari, Amr, for this act. But he said this word so that Amr could hear it, and therefore Amr’s response was an apology, saying “O Messenger of Allah, I am a man with thin legs”, meaning slender legs. And I said that people usually notice the thinness and slenderness of legs, and most people in reality do not reflect on this truth that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) drew this man’s attention to: that the one Allah created with thin legs, He said to him , As per the Quranic text, this instruction from the Messenger (peace be upon him) intends first to magnify the fact that this person does not like that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) created him with thin legs. The second reason, and this is more important, is the other people who see this person, 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 Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has created is beautiful. I say this, and although I recall that there is a story or hadith that occurred during the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) while he was traveling, perhaps during the Farewell Pilgrimage, I do not remember it now. And Abdullah ibn Mas’ud was with him. He climbed a tree to pick fruit from it, perhaps it was the fruit of the acacia tree. 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 impulsive reaction to the nature with which humans are created, unless it is refined by the refinement of the wise Lawgiver. So the response of the Messenger (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him) was that he said to those around him The two 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... some of the creation, and even the man himself, drew his attention to the fact that all of Allah’s creation is beautiful. This is what we used to say. And here is the first witness from this hadith: when we say that Allah (Mighty and Majestic), when He 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, but rather all of Allah’s (Mighty and Majestic) creation is beautiful. If the general system is always and forever that the man has a beard and the woman does not, and if we find what is called today perverts, which is a man who is a hermaphrodite with no beard, and a woman with a beard, then this too is not in vain. But as we have said repeatedly, it 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 its creation excellent, as you have heard. Among the excellence of His creation is that He draws the attention of His servants that the matter is not a matter of mutation and chance. The man with a beard and the woman without 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, and one must remember this truth. Whatever Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has created is beautiful, and it is not permissible for a person to consider it ugly.
The Messenger (peace be upon him) drew this Companion’s attention to this truth, as if consoling him if he had any feeling 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, as mentioned before, that it is the creation of Allah. And therefore he said to him So you must adhere to the path that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) legislated through His tongue (peace be upon him) regarding not lengthening the lower garment. This hadith, like many hadiths, clarifies the levels of the lower garment and the places where it is prescribed, permissible, or forbidden. First, he says this is the place of the lower garment: below four fingers below the knee. 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 he legislated for the believing Muslims that the lower garment should not be long, as a recommendation, not as an obligation or a fard, below the knee by four fingers, approximately four fingers. Then the second level is after four more fingers below that; this is the second level. The third level of permissibility is below the second four, meaning below twelve fingers. This is permissible, and this hadith is explicit in that. Other hadiths came in the Sahih and elsewhere, and whatever is below the ankles is in the Fire . There are many hadiths containing this.