Is there evidence that unbuttoning shirts is a recommended practice?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : It is mentioned in "Al-Shama'il" a hadith of Mu'awiyah ibn Qarah that: "The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to unbutton his buttons." Also, Ibn al-Jawzi mentioned it in "Manaqib al-Imam Ahmad," and Ibn Khuzaymah and al-Bayhaqi in "Al-Sunan al-Kabir" that Ibn 'Umar also used to do this, as did al-Sha'bi, and Qarah ibn Ilyas did it constantly.
The Shaykh : In winter?
The questioner : In summer and winter.
The Shaykh : In winter?
The questioner : How?
The Shaykh : Did the Messenger do that in winter?
The questioner : Allah knows best, but it means I did not see it in the hadith; it was just that.
The student : You are saying yes, no, I do not know.
The questioner : I mean, I do not know.
The student : Yes, because of the time.
The Shaykh : You are saying it is not, it means.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The student : We used to, I mean...
The questioner : We learn, if Allah wills.
The Shaykh : Do you have an idea about the Sunnah of custom and the Sunnah of worship?
The questioner : I do not know much about it.
The Shaykh : Do you have it or not? May Allah guide you.
The questioner : I do not have it.
The Shaykh : Ah, how much you relieve us, you do not have it. What is your knowledge that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) disliked eating lizard meat, or did he love it?
The questioner : He did, he disliked it.
The Shaykh : Is its dislike part of the Sunnah?
The questioner: No.
The Shaykh : When.
The questioner : Okay, from the perspective of custom.
The Shaykh : Huh, now clarify the place of clarification, speak, but the place of silence, be silent now, say why?
The questioner : When the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) turned away from this, he let them eat from it, it was only that perhaps this is from the Sunnah of custom, as I mentioned.
The Shaykh : It became part of the Sunnah of custom.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Okay, and do you know that the Messenger loved honey?
The questioner : I did not know except from you.
The Shaykh : This is well known in the authentic Sunnah, so if someone turned away from honey, would he be contradicting the Sunnah?
The questioner: No.
The Shaykh : Do you know that the Messenger (peace be upon him) had long hair that sometimes reached the lobes of his ears and sometimes the tops of his shoulders?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : I do not know, are you following this Sunnah or leaving it?
The questioner : Leaving it.
The Shaykh : Leaving it, contradicting the Sunnah.
The questioner : It is not a contradiction.
The Shaykh : Then why did the Messenger do that?
The questioner : This is from the Sunnah of custom; the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not command it.
The Shaykh : So there is a Sunnah of custom and a Sunnah of worship. These examples confirm that not every action the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did is a Sunnah of worship, because he may do something by nature and temperament, loving one food and disliking another. This has no relation to religion. Likewise, growing hair, for example, he did that because it was the custom of the Arabs until today; they kept their hair long and also made it into braids and locks. You know this, and you must know that when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) conquered Makkah, he entered it with four locks of hair. No one from the scholars of knowledge and jurisprudence says that it is from the Sunnah. I am not saying now that he says it is from the Sunnah to grow hair to here or to here, but no one says developing this hair into locks and braids. No one says this, even though the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did it. Likewise, today we wear, I do not know what you call this, sandals or slippers.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Sandals, but they have two straps, one for the big toe and the other four go into another strap. This is how the sandals of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) were, as in Sahih al-Bukhari. So if we wear sandals like mine, with five toes in one opening, it is not said that we contradicted the Sunnah or wore the "kandarah." Do you know the "kandarah"? The shoe, meaning the fully covered shoe.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : It is not said that we contradicted the Sunnah. Why? Because these are ordinary matters related to the country. In hot countries, wearing this fully covered "kandarah" or the "jizmah" is not suitable. Do you know the "jizmah"?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Ah, so this detail relieves the student of knowledge from many matters, including the issue of unbuttoning buttons. It is possible that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), for the sake of relaxation and activity in a hot atmosphere, opened his shirt and relaxed. There is no harm in this. But if we make it an intended act of worship, like cutting the garment, for example, to the middle of the calf, and if it is long, to the ankles, no, we say in hadiths from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) where he said:Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 17:203, making it a sign for the believer. So this is one thing, and unbuttoning the shirt is another. If you know this rule that the Sunnah is two types: a Sunnah of worship and a Sunnah of custom, then the student of knowledge must look at what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did: did that action come from him with the intention of worship and drawing near to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), or was it a custom or nature, or any of the other motives and factors? If you know this rule, you are relieved from many matters, including the buttons of the shirt.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : In winter?
The questioner : In summer and winter.
The Shaykh : In winter?
The questioner : How?
The Shaykh : Did the Messenger do that in winter?
The questioner : Allah knows best, but it means I did not see it in the hadith; it was just that.
The student : You are saying yes, no, I do not know.
The questioner : I mean, I do not know.
The student : Yes, because of the time.
The Shaykh : You are saying it is not, it means.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The student : We used to, I mean...
The questioner : We learn, if Allah wills.
The Shaykh : Do you have an idea about the Sunnah of custom and the Sunnah of worship?
The questioner : I do not know much about it.
The Shaykh : Do you have it or not? May Allah guide you.
The questioner : I do not have it.
The Shaykh : Ah, how much you relieve us, you do not have it. What is your knowledge that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) disliked eating lizard meat, or did he love it?
The questioner : He did, he disliked it.
The Shaykh : Is its dislike part of the Sunnah?
The questioner: No.
The Shaykh : When.
The questioner : Okay, from the perspective of custom.
The Shaykh : Huh, now clarify the place of clarification, speak, but the place of silence, be silent now, say why?
The questioner : When the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) turned away from this, he let them eat from it, it was only that perhaps this is from the Sunnah of custom, as I mentioned.
The Shaykh : It became part of the Sunnah of custom.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Okay, and do you know that the Messenger loved honey?
The questioner : I did not know except from you.
The Shaykh : This is well known in the authentic Sunnah, so if someone turned away from honey, would he be contradicting the Sunnah?
The questioner: No.
The Shaykh : Do you know that the Messenger (peace be upon him) had long hair that sometimes reached the lobes of his ears and sometimes the tops of his shoulders?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : I do not know, are you following this Sunnah or leaving it?
The questioner : Leaving it.
The Shaykh : Leaving it, contradicting the Sunnah.
The questioner : It is not a contradiction.
The Shaykh : Then why did the Messenger do that?
The questioner : This is from the Sunnah of custom; the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not command it.
The Shaykh : So there is a Sunnah of custom and a Sunnah of worship. These examples confirm that not every action the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did is a Sunnah of worship, because he may do something by nature and temperament, loving one food and disliking another. This has no relation to religion. Likewise, growing hair, for example, he did that because it was the custom of the Arabs until today; they kept their hair long and also made it into braids and locks. You know this, and you must know that when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) conquered Makkah, he entered it with four locks of hair. No one from the scholars of knowledge and jurisprudence says that it is from the Sunnah. I am not saying now that he says it is from the Sunnah to grow hair to here or to here, but no one says developing this hair into locks and braids. No one says this, even though the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did it. Likewise, today we wear, I do not know what you call this, sandals or slippers.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Sandals, but they have two straps, one for the big toe and the other four go into another strap. This is how the sandals of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) were, as in Sahih al-Bukhari. So if we wear sandals like mine, with five toes in one opening, it is not said that we contradicted the Sunnah or wore the "kandarah." Do you know the "kandarah"? The shoe, meaning the fully covered shoe.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : It is not said that we contradicted the Sunnah. Why? Because these are ordinary matters related to the country. In hot countries, wearing this fully covered "kandarah" or the "jizmah" is not suitable. Do you know the "jizmah"?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Ah, so this detail relieves the student of knowledge from many matters, including the issue of unbuttoning buttons. It is possible that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), for the sake of relaxation and activity in a hot atmosphere, opened his shirt and relaxed. There is no harm in this. But if we make it an intended act of worship, like cutting the garment, for example, to the middle of the calf, and if it is long, to the ankles, no, we say in hadiths from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) where he said:
The button of the believer is to the middle of the calf
أزرَةُ المؤمن إلى نصف الساقThe questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.