It has spread in our region that some young men do not button their shirts and claim that this act is part of the Sunnah, citing the statement of Qura ibn Shurayk al-Muzani as evidence.
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The questioner : This questioner says: May Allah preserve Shaykh Muhammad al-Uthaymeen. It has spread in our region that some young men do not button their shirts, and they say: This act is part of the Sunnah, and they cite as evidence the statement of Qura ibn Shurayk al-Muzani, as it is in Abu Dawud and others, that he said: . The question is: Does this hadith indicate that it is part of the Sunnah for a man to leave the buttons of his shirt open?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions:
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said:Sahih Muslim 1037a. And fiqh (jurisprudence) is visualizing a thing as it is, and connecting branches to their roots; it is not merely knowledge.
This hadith mentioned by the questioner does not indicate the permissibility of opening the button, neither from a near nor a far perspective. Because do these people who found the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with his buttons undone know that he opened them as an act of worship and following the Sunnah, or that he opened them for one of the purposes, such as intense heat, or heat in the chest, or something similar?
We do not know. Rather, what is most likely is that he did not do it as a Sunnah practice, because if this were part of the Sunnah, he would not have made buttons in the first place. What is the benefit of buttons except to button them?
But always, a person has buttons and buttons them, but he opens them at times for one of the reasons, either to cool down, or because of heat in his chest, which is called sensitivity by people, or for other reasons.
And it is not permissible for us to take from this and similar instances that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) did it as an act of worship, because the original ruling is to prohibit worship except with clear evidence that does not allow for any other interpretation.
My advice to my brothers, these and others like them who do not think carefully about matters, is to fear Allah first in themselves, and to fear Allah in their brothers, and to fear Allah in directing the Shari'ah and its evidence to what was intended by Allah and His Messenger.
Therefore, I advise these people to button their shirts if they have buttons, and not to worship Allah with something they have not known to be prescribed. For this reason, it is an established principle among all scholars that the original ruling in acts of worship is prohibition, except for what evidence has established as prescribed. And the mere fact that some people saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with his buttons undone does not indicate permissibility.
And as we said, why were buttons made except to be buttoned? They were not made just for adornment and beauty, and there is no beauty in them either if they are not buttoned.
In summary: This understanding is a wrong understanding, and it is not recommended for a person to open his buttons as an act of worship to Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
As for if there is a reason such as intense heat or otherwise, then this is a natural thing; a person must cool down and open his buttons to cool off.
He and his people came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to pledge allegiance to him, and found him with his buttons undone.
أتى إلى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم هو وقومه ليبايعوه، ووجدوه مطلق الأزرارThe Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions:
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said:
He upon whom Allah intends to bestow goodness, He confers upon him an insight in religion
من يرد الله به خيراً يفقهه في الدينThis hadith mentioned by the questioner does not indicate the permissibility of opening the button, neither from a near nor a far perspective. Because do these people who found the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with his buttons undone know that he opened them as an act of worship and following the Sunnah, or that he opened them for one of the purposes, such as intense heat, or heat in the chest, or something similar?
We do not know. Rather, what is most likely is that he did not do it as a Sunnah practice, because if this were part of the Sunnah, he would not have made buttons in the first place. What is the benefit of buttons except to button them?
But always, a person has buttons and buttons them, but he opens them at times for one of the reasons, either to cool down, or because of heat in his chest, which is called sensitivity by people, or for other reasons.
And it is not permissible for us to take from this and similar instances that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) did it as an act of worship, because the original ruling is to prohibit worship except with clear evidence that does not allow for any other interpretation.
My advice to my brothers, these and others like them who do not think carefully about matters, is to fear Allah first in themselves, and to fear Allah in their brothers, and to fear Allah in directing the Shari'ah and its evidence to what was intended by Allah and His Messenger.
Therefore, I advise these people to button their shirts if they have buttons, and not to worship Allah with something they have not known to be prescribed. For this reason, it is an established principle among all scholars that the original ruling in acts of worship is prohibition, except for what evidence has established as prescribed. And the mere fact that some people saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with his buttons undone does not indicate permissibility.
And as we said, why were buttons made except to be buttoned? They were not made just for adornment and beauty, and there is no beauty in them either if they are not buttoned.
In summary: This understanding is a wrong understanding, and it is not recommended for a person to open his buttons as an act of worship to Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
As for if there is a reason such as intense heat or otherwise, then this is a natural thing; a person must cool down and open his buttons to cool off.