The Ruling on Lengthening the Garment, Whether for Arrogance or by Custom

Q: What is the ruling on lengthening the garment if it is for arrogance or for other than arrogance? And what is the ruling if a person is compelled to do so, whether by force from his family if he is young, or if it has become the custom?
Answer: Its ruling is prohibition for men, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): , narrated by al-Bukhari in his Sahih. And Muslim narrated in the Sahih from Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . These two hadiths and what is in their meaning encompass whoever lets his garment hang down in arrogance or for other reasons, because he (peace and blessings be upon him) generalized and did not restrict it. And if the lengthening is for the sake of arrogance, the sin becomes greater and the warning more severe, based on his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . It is not permissible to think that the prohibition of lengthening the garment is restricted to the intention of arrogance; because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not restrict that in the two hadiths mentioned earlier, just as he did not restrict it in the other hadith, which is his saying to some of his companions: . So he made all lengthening of the garment part of arrogance, because in the majority of cases it is not otherwise. And whoever does not lengthen it for arrogance, his action is a means to it, and means have the ruling of their ends. And because that is extravagance and exposure. For this reason, it is established from 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that when he saw a young man whose garment was touching the ground, he said to him: Lift your garment, for it is more pious toward your Lord and purer for your garment.
As for his saying to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) when he said: O Messenger of Allah, my lower garment hangs loose unless I attend to it, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: . His intention (peace and blessings be upon him) is that whoever attends to his clothing when it hangs loose until he lifts it is not considered among those who drag their garments in arrogance, because he did not let it hang down; rather, it may hang loose on him, and he lifts it and attends to it. And there is no doubt that this person is excused. As for whoever intentionally lets it hang loose, whether it is a shirt, trousers, a lower garment, or a tunic, he falls under the warning and is not excused in lengthening his clothing, because the authentic hadiths prohibiting lengthening encompass him by their wording, meaning, and objectives. So it is obligatory for every Muslim to beware of lengthening the garment and to fear Allah in that, and not to let his clothing go below his ankles, acting in accordance with this authentic hadith, and out of fear of the anger and punishment of Allah. And Allah is the guarantor of success.