Dress code of women in prayer.
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
(May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked
this question:
Happy
Ramadhan,
My
request is that i want to know whether female has to cover her foot also while
praying (namaaz). Because usually our dress code is only upto ankle it
means foot can be seen. I came to know that we have to cover foot also
while praying. Can you please advise me in right way of wearing
dress code for female while offering prayers (namaaz).
Thanks
Allah
Hafiz
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errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from
questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in
confidentiality.)
Answer:
Dress code of women
in prayer
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His
help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide,
and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear
witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear
witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His
Messengers.
Allah
says in the Holy Quran Chapter 33 Surah Ahzaab verse 59:
O Prophet, enjoin your
wives and daughters, and the believing women, that they should cast their outer
garments over their persons. It is
expected that they will thus be recognized, and not molested. Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 24 Surah
Noor verse 31:
31 And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and
guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except
that which is displayed of itself; that they should draw their veils
over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their
fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their
brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or
the slaves, whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical
needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they
should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O ye Believers! Turn ye all together
towards Allah that ye may attain Bliss.
There are two opinions amongst
the scholars in Islam as to what does the phrase ‘except
that which is displayed of itself’ mean and include. One opinion is that it means the face,
hands (below the wrist) and the feet (below the ankles) may be left uncovered,
and the other opinion is that the face also has to be covered, and only the
hands and the feet may be left uncovered.
Sunan of Abu-Dawood
Hadith 4092 Narrated by Aisha, Ummul
Mu'minin
Asma, daughter of
AbuBakr, entered upon the Messenger of Allah (saws) wearing thin clothes. The
Messenger of Allah (saws) turned his attention from her and said: ‘O Asma, when
a woman reaches the age of menstruation, it does not suit her that she displays
her parts of body except this and this’, and he (saws) pointed to her
face and hands.
The most accepted opinion is
that if the women covers everything except her face, her hands (below her
wrist) and her feet (below her ankles),
she would be following the Command of Allah; and if she chooses to cover her face with a
‘naqaab’, then it would be considered
purest and closest to the Command of Allah Subhanah. And Allah Alone Knows Best.
Ref:
Dress code of women in prayer
For the prayer of a believing woman to be acceptable to
Allah Subhanah, she must cover herself completely in her ‘khimaar’ or ‘hijaab’
or ‘jilbaab’, just as she would when in the presence of non-mehram members of
the opposite sex, even if she were to pray absolutely alone…ie. other than her
face, her hands (below her wrist) and her feet (below her ankles), all other
parts of the body of the believing woman must be covered.
Ibn Abbas (r.a.), Ibn Umar (r.a.) and Aishah
(r.a.) narrate that the Prophet (saws) said, "Allah does not accept the
prayer of an adult woman unless she is wearing a head-covering (khimar, jilbaab,
hijab)."
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only
due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me
alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is
the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan
Wister