Jeans/Trousers below the ankles in Salat?

[abbas_ali]

Salaam all,

I had a question regarding wearing trousers/jeans in salat below the ankles. I have always folded over my jeans to read namaz, learnign this from my friends really and finding out it was prohibited to read if the cloth went below the ankles.

I remember at the mosque next to my uni there was an elder who used to say to us every week that it was an extreme sin to pray with the jeans over the ankles and still an extreme sin to fold them over. He used to tell us to cut them at that very moment. I'll be honest and say no-one took him all that seriously because he was rather eccentric in his behaviour and had become a comical figure almost in the masjid for other reasons (e.g., getting up after every juma namaz and giving odd speeches, arguing with others in the mosque etc.)

Anyway i was searching online as to reading namaz with a t-shirt and to confirm whether it was makruh or haram and i came across this brother's post http://www.***********/forum/Topic332754-83-1.aspx

He says this: "7. Do you know that letting your jeans go down below your ankles is MAKROOH, while folding your jeans is also MAKROOH? so then what should you do? DONT FOLD YOUR JEANS as it is makrooh-tenzehi (it is still makrooh but your prayer is valid) wheras folding your jeans is makrooh-e-tehreemi (You have to repeat your prayer)"

He is saying having the jeans over the ankles is makruh but folding your jeans invalidates your prayer imsad. This scares me greatly, this would mean most of my prayers are then invalidated .

I have looked elsewhere online and found this http://deoband.org/2009/04/fiqh/salat/folding-ones-clothes-for-salah/

This Sheikh says it is makruh but not haram to fold your clothes. However he says having your clothes dragging on the floor is a serious sin on the basis of:

"As for praying in a condition where the garments are dragging on the ground or are below the ankles, Imam Abu Dawud narrates in his Sunan from Abu Hurayrah (Allah be pleased with him) that there was a person praying in a condition in which his lower garment was hanging below his ankles. The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) commanded him to perform wudu’ (ablution) twice and then the Companions inquired from him, ‘O Messenger of Allah! Why did you command him to perform wudu’ and then remained silent?’ The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) replied: ‘He was praying whilst wearing his lower garment below his ankles, and verily Allah Most High does not accept the salah of a person who hangs his izar (lower garment) below his ankles.’"

I'm rather confused as to what is correct procedure, could someone please clarify for me please i would appreciate greatly. I have also read online the folding of clothes is prohibited - do these people mean in salat or folding clothes in general is a sin (e.g. when you're just out in the street and you fold your sleeves up)?

Jazakallah-khair
Thank you very much

 

[kashmirshazad]

No one really knows. Its amazing though, I always thought emphasis should be placed on Salah, and Islam makes life easier for us, not hard.
Sometimes I have had to pray in my trousers and I folded them. I still dont know the reason why it is an 'extreme sin' to do otherwise.
I certainly would have thought that while reading Salah youre mind should be clear and you should be in your head slowly memorizing the words for salah that are required not worrying about trivial issues such as this.

 

[IslamicRevival]

I remember at the mosque next to my uni there was an elder who used to say to us every week that it was an extreme sin to pray with the jeans over the ankles and still an extreme sin to fold them over.

Ibn Abbas (radiAllahu anhu) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (sallAllahu alaihi wa aalihi wa sallam) said, "I was commanded to prostrate myself on the seven [bones] and forbidden to fold back hair and clothing. [The seven bones are] forehead, nose, hands, knees and feet." (Sahih Muslim: Book 4, Number 995)

Ibn Abbas (radiAllahu anhu) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (sallAllahu alaihi wa aalihi wa sallam) was ordered [by Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'Ala] to prostrate on seven parts and not to tuck up the clothes or hair [while praying]. Those parts are: the forehead [along with the tip of nose], both hands, both knees, and [toes of] both feet. (Sahih al-Bukhari: Volume 1, Book 12, Number 773)

Having your trousers below the ankles on purpose due to pride or arrogance is haraam. If your trousers are below the ankles for any other reason then it is makrooh-e-tanzeehi and this would not make it wajib to repeat your salaah but you would lose reward.

 

[kashmirshazad]

But that doesnt answer the question, it just clairfies the status of such actions.
Why exactly is it makrooh?

 

[IslamicRevival]

When we stand for Namaz we are presenting ourselves in the court of Allah. The positions that we enact during Namaz demonstrate the highest form of respect where we stand in position, then bow etc.

If one was to visit the King/Queen of the day he/she would most certainly wear clothes according to protocol, for fear of disrespecting the host.

To turn over the bottom of trousers (wearing them inside out) during Namaz in my mind is disrespectful. If you want to follow the Sunnah then wear the trousers to lengths above the ankles both during Namaz and outside therefore eliminating the need to fold them.

Wearing clothes inside out goes against the norm and in my view is disrespectful.

 

[kashmirshazad]

Brother, what if you are getting late for Salah, and have no time to 'adjust'. What is the ruling then?

You do make a good point in that answer and I agree with it (what can be more graceful and higher than representing ourselves for Allah swt) but what are the severities of this compared to other sins?
Would you go out your way and describe it as on a par to an 'extremity' such as terrorism, mass murder, rape, incest etc?

 

[sur]

It's NOT makrooh:-

Read Ahadees below carefully....
==============

Dr.Ghulam Murtaza Malik said in a lecture that in those days dragging izar(cloth wrapped around legs) was a gesture of being RICH ... it was like saying "Look I am rich".... It was a symbol of being PROUD.... that's why Prophet forbade such action is that context. As it's NOT a proud-gesture now-a-days so there is NO prohibition on pants being below ankles...
=============

Bukhari:72:675:-
The Prophet said Allah will not look, on the Day of Resurrection at the person who drags his garment (behind him) out of conceit. On that Abu Bakr said, "O Allah's Apostle! One side of my Izar hangs low if I do not take care of it." The Prophet said, 'You are not one of those who do that out of conceit."

SB:73:88:-
Narated By Salim : That his father said; "When Allah's Apostle mentioned what he mentioned about (the hanging of) the Izar (waist sheet), Abu Bakr said, "O Allah's Apostle! My Izar slackens on one side (without my intention)." The Prophet said, "You are not among those (who, out of pride) drag their Izars behind them(with pride)."





SB:72:679:-
Allah's Apostle, "Allah will not look, on the Day of Resurrection, at a person who drags his Izar (behind him) out of pride and arrogance."


Abu Dawood:27:4082:-
AbdurRahman said: I asked Abu Sa'id al-Khudri about wearing lower garment. He said: You have come to the man who knows it very well. The Apostle of Allah (pbuh) said: The way for a believer to wear a lower garment is to have it halfway down his legs and he is guilty of no sin if it comes halfway between that and the ankles, but what comes lower than the ankles is in Hell. On the day of Resurrection. Allah will not look at him who trails his lower garment conceitedly.





Word "conceit/proud" is missing in some Ahadees like following one & that's why our intelligent scholars took them "Literally" instead of looking into the spirit of what Prophet said.

SB:72:678:-
The Prophet said, "The part of an Izar which hangs below the ankles is in the Fire."

SB:72:681:-
Allah's Apostle said, "While a man was dragging his Izar on the ground (behind him), suddenly Allah made him sink into the earth and he will go on sinking into it till the Day of Resurrection."

 

[kashmirshazad]

Thank you brother, and alhamdolillah. Always knew there was a logical explanation to this, just goes to show how mashallah beautiful our religion is. Everything is done or needs to be done in such a way to remain humble.

Alhamdolillah

 

[newBro]

Assalamualaikum,
The answer to whether it is permissible to wear pants below the ankle or not is given here: http://islam-qa.com/en/ref/102260/ankle

To summarize, it is unanimously agreed among the scholars that if pants are worn below the ankle due to arrogance, then that is Haram.
If they are worn below the ankle but arrogance is not intended, then most scholars have considered it Makruh.

Note that this is not only during Salah, but also out of Salah, so you should normally have your pants above your ankles.

Dr.Ghulam Murtaza Malik said in a lecture that in those days dragging izar(cloth wrapped around legs) was a gesture of being RICH ... it was like saying "Look I am rich".... It was a symbol of being PROUD.... that's why Prophet forbade such action is that context. As it's NOT a proud-gesture now-a-days so there is NO prohibition on pants being below ankles...

Brother Sur,
Note that Dr. Ghulam Murtaza Malik is a recent scholar, and that what must first be considered about any issue is what the scholars have been saying for the past 1400 years, and not the past 50 years. Hence, for example I heard someone saying that drawing pictures is ok because people of that time used to worship the pictures they drew. But I don't know of any past scholar who has allowed it (I'm not saying that Dr. Ghulam Murtaza allowed it cuz i don't know, just explaining a point). So the bottom line should be to first see what scholars of the past have said and agreed upon, and if nothing is found only then should one look towards later scholars because Islam is not 50 years old!

Wassalam

 

[ardianto]

When I was young I read an article that mentioned all hadits that narrated by Abu Hurayrah are weak hadits. And one of these weak hadits is hadits that mentioned wear trouser below the ankle is a symbol of proud and arrogance.

 

[newBro]

Assalamualaikum,

When I was young I read an article that mentioned all hadits that narrated by Abu Hurayrah are weak hadits.

That article must have been written by a Shia person because they are against him. Also, they discredit Aisha(r.a.) as well. But it is very incorrect to reject any of their Ahadith because of being narrated from them, and none of the Sunni scholars since the Tabi'een onwards have rejected them or considered them unreliable. One intention behind this could be that the two of them(r.a.) narrated the most Ahadith. Abut Hurairah(r.a.) narrated 5000+ Ahadith and Aishah(r.a.) narrated 2000+ Ahadith.

So you will not find, for example, Imam Nawawi rejecting his Ahadith, or Ibn Kathir, Ibn Taymiyyah, any scholar of repute you can think of. Indeed, their Ahadith have been considered Saheeh by Imams Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abut Dawood, etc., i.e. all the famous Hadith books. And rejecting his Ahadith means rejecting all these books of Hadith, which would be a grave sin as we are denying something to be the words of Rasulullah(s.a.w.) when scholars throughout the ages have considered them to be.

Wassalam

 

[ardianto]

That article must have been written by a Shia person because they are against him.

I think you right, that article have been written by Shia person.

Although Indonesian Ulama council released a statement "The only official and legitimate Islam in Indonesia is Ahlussunah wal Jama'ah", in fact there many Shia books that published in Indonesia. And there are many Shia writer in Indonesia. However, they never declare themselves are Shia, even I found those Shia writer often quoted fatwas from Sunni Scholars. Of course, only certain fatwas, that used for support their argument.

Thanks for your information brother. If you never wrote this post maybe I never know if that article was Shia's article.

 

[newBro]

Alhamdulillah,
Brother thank Allah for saving you from possible misguidance and wrong bias against an eminent Sahabi(r.a.).

Since you mention that there is no clear distinction in Indonesia between Shias and Sunnis, i.e. in terms of lets say an article where you can't tell who wrote it, I suggest you be careful because they could potentially have bad long-term effects on you and others through you.

Wassalam

 

[ardianto]

There is a Muslim organization with many activists, less than 100 meters from my home. I noticed, some of those activists wear trousers above the ankles and another wear trousers below the ankles. And I never heard any clash between these two groups caused by different style of trousers.

In my place, I never heard someone says, trouser below the ankles is haram. Also I never heard someone say, trouser above the ankles is symbol of extremism. But I have heard someone say, trousers above the ankles is sunnah.

 

[Dagless]

Ibn Abbas (radiAllahu anhu) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (sallAllahu alaihi wa aalihi wa sallam) said, "I was commanded to prostrate myself on the seven [bones] and forbidden to fold back hair and clothing. [The seven bones are] forehead, nose, hands, knees and feet." (Sahih Muslim: Book 4, Number 995)

Quick question - how does this make 7 bones?

forehead (1), nose (1), hands (1), knees (1), feet (1) = 5

or

forehead (1), nose (1), hands (2), knees (2), feet (2) = 8

 

[newBro]

Assalamualaikum,
In my opinion, the forehead and nose are considered 1 because you are supposed to touch part of the nose and forehead at the same time, i.e. they are continuous, whereas the two hands, knees and feet are apart and so are considered separate.

And Allah knows best.

Wassalam

 

[YusufNoor]

Quick question - how does this make 7 bones?

forehead (1), nose (1), hands (1), knees (1), feet (1) = 5

or

forehead (1), nose (1), hands (2), knees (2), feet (2) = 8

head and nose = 1! there are NO bones in the nose [only cartilage], although you still place it on the ground.

ergo:

forehead + nose (1), hands (2), knees (2), feet (2) = 7

:wa:

 

[Dagless]

Assalamualaikum,
In my opinion, the forehead and nose are considered 1 because you are supposed to touch part of the nose and forehead at the same time, i.e. they are continuous, whereas the two hands, knees and feet are apart and so are considered separate.

And Allah knows best.

Wassalam

head and nose = 1! there are NO bones in the nose [only cartilage], although you still place it on the ground.

ergo:

forehead + nose (1), hands (2), knees (2), feet (2) = 7

:wa:

Thank you brothers.

newBro I liked your explanation best and so have accepted it.

YusufNoor the hadith stated "[The seven bones are] forehead, nose, hands, knees and feet". If the nose was not considered a bone why would it say seven bones and then list the nose? The nose is not differentiated in the list.

By saying it did not mean to include the nose leaves the hadith open to different interpretations and argument by others (this is only my opinion).

 

[OurIslamic]

Hmm. I didn't know this before.

 

[newBro]

Brothers,
Note that the word "bones" is in brackets which means that Rasulullah(s.a.w.) did not use this word. This is a common way of saying things in Arabic where you don't specify things, just the number. So here, while the translator has used the word "bones", perhaps "parts" or something similar to it was more appropriate. Another example of this kind can be found in the Hadith:
Dawud :: Book 41 : Hadith 4978
Narrated Abdullah ibn AbulHamsa':

I bought something from the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) before he received his Prophetic commission, and as there was something still due to him I promised him that I would bring it to him at his place, but I forgot. When I remembered three days later, I went to that place and found him there. He said: You have vexed me, young man. I have been here for three days waiting for you.

It has been translated as "three days", whereas the Arabic only says "three".

Hope it clears this up.

Wassalam