What is the ruling on isbal?

The Shaykh : There is no doubt that shortening the garment to the middle of the shin is a recommended practice (sunnah) that is the stronger position; there is no doubt or ambiguity in this. Below that, shortening the garment to above the ankles is a permissible matter. However, if it extends below the ankles, it is as stated in the hadith—in fact, in many hadiths: ; meaning: the one who does this lengthening is in the Fire. We find that some of those who claim to be callers to Allah, or who are claimed to be such, lengthen their garments to below the ankles. Thus, the matter did not stop at the policy they claim in the path of calling to Allah, which is shortening the garment to above the ankles; rather, they have transgressed that to below the ankles. This is well known in many Islamic countries in general, and in no small number of Islamic callers in particular. When they are opposed in what they do or criticized, they try to justify and legitimize their action. It is not only an action contrary to the Sunnah—meaning: they are not rewarded and not helped—but they are thereby contradicting authentic hadiths that explicitly state the punishment and torment we mentioned earlier. Then they try to interpret (ta'wil) the hadiths that contain a severe prohibition of their action. For example, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . When it is said to him: You are dragging your garment, and not only making it longer than half the shins—meaning: above the ankles—and this is a severe warning, he says to you: This warning is specific to the one who does it out of arrogance. Then he cites, to deceive people who have no knowledge, what came regarding the occasion of this authentic hadith: that Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) mentioned before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that his garment or lower garment might become loose and reach below the ankles. So he (peace be upon him) said to him: —or as he said. They take the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) answer to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq and apply it to themselves. But there is a vast difference between what happened with Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him)—and I do not say what happens with them, but rather what they do—because the matter is very, very clearly different between what happened with Abu Bakr al-Siddiq and what these people do. Perhaps the matter is not hidden and does not need much explanation. I only say, briefly and concisely:
The narration is explicit that Abu Bakr’s (may Allah be pleased with him) lower garment was usually not below the ankles, but rather—as you heard—from running, walking, and leaning to the right and left, this lower garment would become loose and pass the shins. So he feared—and this is from his piety and scrupulousness (wara'), may Allah be pleased with him—that that severe warning would include him: . So he (peace and blessings be upon him) reassured him by saying: . As for the others, there is a vast difference—as we mentioned—between their action and what happened with Abu Bakr. That is because their lower garments were in accordance with the Sunnah, whereas the lower garments of these people are not in accordance with the Sunnah from the start. One of them has his cloak or jacket tailored with a long tail by the tailor and says to him: Make its length to below the ankles. He claims that he does not do it out of arrogance. But there—now we must observe—two things: there is intention and there is action. The intention is the niyyah, whose place is the heart, and only Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) knows the intentions in the breasts. As for the action, it is apparent to the eye. So whoever is sincere in following his Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is always and forever trying to imitate him (peace be upon him) or the noble messengers. If we accept from this one who claims that his long garment is not intended for arrogance or vanity, then we will say to him: Suppose that is the case, even though the action indicates that it is not so. What is the meaning of intending to tailor a garment, cloak, or jacket in a way that conflicts with the system of dress that the Messenger (peace be upon him) prescribed for Muslims in general? He (peace be upon him) said: . So he does not heed or ever observe this methodology in the dress of the Muslim. He only clings to the first hadith that mentioned Abu Bakr: that he does not do it out of vanity. Suppose you do not do it out of vanity; where are you from the practical Sunnah that the Messenger (peace be upon him) established in two levels: a higher and a lower? The higher level: the Muslim is rewarded and earns reward for it, because he (peace be upon him) was like that. The lower level: one is not rewarded for it, nor earns reward, nor is helped, and it is that his garment is to above the ankles. As for the third level, he (peace be upon him) said: .
Here, it must be observed what is the summary of the two events: that lengthening the garment below the ankles is not permissible by the text of this last hadith. Some may do it without intending arrogance, and it is possible that this is imagined. Some may do it without intending vanity or arrogance; but they do it out of imitation, following, or negligence and disregard for the Sunnah. This is what befalls them, and they are in the Fire, as he said: . As for the one who does it intending vanity, there is that severe warning: .
Therefore, we advise every lover of the Sunnah to try to follow the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in the broadest sense that this individual or any individual can, unless that is in the Sunnahs of custom. Because we have mentioned more than once that the actions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) are divided into two categories: Sunnahs of worship and Sunnahs of custom. The Sunnahs of worship: the Muslim is rewarded for them, from the recommended (mandub) to the emphasized Sunnah, let alone what is above that of the obligatory. As for the Sunnahs of custom, they are many. Some relate to the nature of the land on which the Messenger lived, of heat or cold, or to the constitution and nature on which Allah created him. So he loved something and disliked something. He loved honey and disliked, for example, the meat of the monitor lizard. So it is not said to a person who loves the meat of the monitor lizard that he is contrary to the Sunnah, or to the one who loves honey that he is in accordance with the Sunnah. These are innate matters; the doer is not praised, and the leaver is not criticized. This is what can be said now on the occasion of this question.
Please.