Is it permissible to pray in shoes? Did the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) pray in them? And what was the state in which he prayed in them?

The questioner : Is it permissible for me, may Allah reward you, to pray in shoes? Did the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) pray in them? And what was the state in which he prayed in them? May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : Praying in one's shoes is a sunnah (recommended practice) established by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) through his words and actions. It is established in "al-Sahihayn" from Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that he was asked: Did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) pray in his sandals? He said: Yes. And the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded prayer in sandals and said: Therefore, praying in sandals is a sunnah established by word and action. However, if this sunnah leads to harm, it is left off for the sake of the harm. The harm that can occur in praying in sandals in our current time is defiling the carpets of the mosque and annoying the worshippers on these carpets. The mosque in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was not carpeted with fabric, but was gravel. The gravel absorbs what is on the foot, and what is on the foot is removed with this gravel. Also, some people—may Allah guide us and them—when they enter the mosque in their sandals, they do not look at them or care about their soles, even though the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded whoever enters the mosque in sandals to look at them. Most people neglect this. Therefore, the scholars, may Allah guide them, decided not to pray in them, i.e., in sandals, so that this harm does not occur.

The questioner : May Allah bless you. The last question in the listener's message is from Ali Manwar from 'Ar'ar, who says.