Women wearing socks/stockings for Salah

i don't know.

for years i didn't wear them. in our culture and in many countries women didn't cover the feet, neither in prayer nor when going out. Living in Arab countries as well as going to Arab masajid elsewhere for years, no one bothered me about it.
The first time I heard about covering the feet was from an Irani imam. Then in a masjid in UAE a woman told me that my feet should be covered. I tried to explain in broken arabic that i had heard that a woman's whose ankle bone was bare , her feet would burn in hell and so i asked which is the limit? the ankle or the feet? She started to think as well about my answer and didn't argue with me.

I continued to pray with feet uncovered and in the gulf countries (including Saudi Arabia) i didn't hear about this again. no one asked me to cover my feet or that it was required.

When I went to syria i heard a lot about it, with the people quoting a hadith where the Prophet (SAW) told Asma (R) that the only part of a woman's body that could be left uncovered infront of nonmahram was the face and hands. This, they said showed two things: that the face cover (niqab) wasn't obligatory and that the feet had to be covered in front of non-mahram men and in prayer. To the first assumption, my thoughts were that that may have been at the start but later the face cover may have become obligatory as Islamic commandments were revealed in stages and there was plenty of evidence that face cover was required. To the second I had no answer.

I read in fiqh-hanafi that the feet didn't need to be covered and that that was the correct view (according to the book).

I don't cover my feet in prayer. after leaving syria, I have gone to Arab masajid and have seen many arab women (including older women) praying with the feet uncovered. Turkish women also don't cover the feet. I think it has been shown through generations (both in the Arab and non-Arab world) that covering the feet was not the norm and i think that that makes this a mutawatar tradition, something gone from generation to generation so that it's correctness can't be doubted.

And Allah knows best.

Thanks for your input on this Sister.

^you are welcome. I hope it was helpful.

By Shaykh Ibn Baaz.

Question: What is the proof that women have to cover their feet during prayer for prayer to be accepted?


Answer: Praise be to Allaah.

The free woman who has attained the age of majority is obliged to cover her entire body during prayer, apart from her face and hands, because all of her is ‘awrah. If she prays and any part of her ‘awrah becomes uncovered, such as a shin or foot or all or part of her head, then her prayer is invalid, because the Prophet said:

"Allaah will not accept the prayer of a woman who has started to menstruate, except with a khimaar (covering)" (Reported by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Ibn Maajah and al-Tirmidhi, with a saheeh isnaad)

Abu Dawud reported from Umm Salamah that she asked the Prophet about a woman who prayed wearing a dir’ (chemise or upper garment) and a khimaar (head cover), but no izaar (lower garment). He said: "The woman is ‘awrah."

As for the face, the Sunnah is to uncover it during prayer, so long as no non-mahram men are present. According to the majority of scholars, the feet must be covered; some scholars allow uncovering the feet but the majority say the opposite. Abu Dawud reported from Umm Salamah (may Allaah be pleased with her) that she was asked about a woman who prayed in a khimaar and qamees (dress or gown). She said, "There is nothing wrong with it if the dir’ (chemise) covers her feet." In any case, it is better to cover the feet, to be on the safe side. As far as the hands are concerned, there is more leeway: there is nothing wrong with either covering them or uncovering them, although some scholars think that it is better to cover them. And Allaah is the Source of strength.


Fataawa al-Mar’ah al-Muslimah, by Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz, p. 57


www.islamqa.com

Brother Abd-al Latif thank you for your information regarding this matter. JazakAllah Khair.

format_quote Originally Posted by MuslimahBarb

Brother Abd-ak Latif thank you for your information regarding this matter. JazakAllah Khair.

BarakAllah feek.

During prayer I cover all but my face and hands.

format_quote Originally Posted by MustafaMc

Salah is of utmost importance and we should guard against anything questionable to jeopardize its acceptance by Allah. There are certain requirements for salah including time, wudu, qibla, cover awrah, etc. The awrah for women is everything except the face and the hands and for men it is from the navel to the knees. Is there a reason to intentionally not cover the feet?

I wouldn't want to do anything that invalidates salah, however I don't want to do something that is not required but being made necessary through reinterpretation of ahadith. The thing is that there was a tradition in many countries of not covering the feet in prayer. Even now, in Bahrain I saw Arab women in the masjid with their feet uncovered. They wore long dresses (as I do) and oftentimes their feet showed. Many didn't wear socks. So the question is, if it was so necessary, why did so many generations of women not do it?

there are somethings to consider: what is the actual shafiee ruling about this. in the video i heard that the shafiee and hanafi differ on whether the ankle should be covered in prayer. so does that mean that the hanafee say that the ankle doesn't need to be covered and the shafiee say that the ankle must be covered? then what about the foot? what does shafiee say about the foot, below the ankle. and what is the evidence for the ruling? I believe that the ankle has to be covered as I heard that a woman's foot above the ankle if uncovered, will be burned with hellfire. of course that is the case in front of non-mahram men, as another hadith shows that once Fatima (R) was wearing a cover that was short so that when she covered her head with it, her feet (or legs?) would show and when she covered her feet, her head would show. so the Prophet (SAW) told her not to worry as there was only her father and her slave there. that shows that it's not necessary to cover the feet or head infront of mahram men or one's slave, male or female. And Allah knows best the words of the hadith.

there is also a difference between the cover of a woman in front of non-mahram men and the cover necessary in prayer. a woman can wear a shawl/khimar over normal clothes (not too tight or thin or short) and pray in it, but she can't do the same when going out of the house. outside, she has to wear a burka/abaya too.

the izar is a dress from the navel down (like a skirt). men can pray in just the izar; they don't need a shirt. on the other hand, a woman cannot pray in just the izar. she also needs a top and khimar (to cover the hair, neck, and chest). A woman's izar or pants should cover the ankles but a man's izar/pants should leave the ankle bone uncovered.

there is a ruling about dress that is so long that it drags on the floor. such clothes are a sign of pride and are not allowed. that means that the woman's dress should be long enough to cover the ankles but not so long that it drags on the floor.

there was a picture of a traditional woman's dress worn outside the home in Saudi Arabia in the Encyclopedia of Seerah showing a woman wearing an abaya and niqab with sandles. the feet were shwing but I'm unsure if the woman wore socks or not.

if anyone has the rulings with evidence about feet covering in prayer and in front of non-mahram men, then please provide it. thanks