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In most countries nowadays, people wear trousers which are of ankle length. And one notices that some fold them up whilst in masjids and then unfold them before leaving the Masjids.

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:

As salaam alaikum wa Rahemtullahu wa Barakatahu

May Allah (swt) reward you and grant you true knowledge and His blessings so that you continue to advise and help us to clarify the matters for us.

 

In most countries nowadays, people wear  trousers which are of ankle length.

And one notices that some fold them up whilst in masjids and then unfold them before leaving the Masjids.

In one congregation, one individual used to get agitated and shout at those people who did not fold up their trousers that their prayers would not be accepted!

 

In order to maintain peace and remove the source of distraction for this man, I used to turn up my trouser but normally I and most of the congregation in the UK and Canada pay no attention to the length of the trouser.

Is such indifference incorrect, please?

 

Whilst we should try to follow the example of the Prophet (saw) as best as we can, each of us has to live within our own Cultural norms and for a Universal religion one has to find a happy medium so long as we seek to maintain the standards of decency and cleanliness which Allah's Commandments demand of us.

Multiplicity has not only to be accommadated, it also ought to be celebrated otherwise we all would be wearing a Uniform and suffocate under the burden of conformity of every minute detail of a lifestyle suited for a group of people under circumstances and of a time and place which no longer exist.

Is it not possible for us to identify in Islam the Core and the Perpetual Universally applicable and binding and the Peripheral and the Transitory and of  Local interest or has everything to be given equal importance and that we should strive to adopt/apply to our lives?       

   
One is always aware of one's failings and perfection is never attained by us humans. But we can so easily waste our time/effort on correcting the mundane like dress and the washing and overlook our ethics and human relationships and dealings with each other and remenbrance of Allah and observing His Commandments.

 

I would appreciate your views and I believe many of your readers would welcome them as this issue probably troubles them as much as it does me.

Wa Salaama

Jazaak Allahu Khairum

 

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Answer:

 

Wear Clothes till ankle/prayers

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 no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

 

Abdur Rahman 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 Messenger of Allah (saws) 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 (in arrogance).’

 

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 7.678 Narrated by Abu Huraira

The Prophet said, "The part of an Izar (lower garment) which hangs below the ankles, is in the Fire."

 

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 7.675 Narrated by Abdullah bin Umar

The Prophet (saws) 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 Messenger (saws)! One side of my Izar hangs low if I do not take care of it." The Prophet (saws) said, -You are not one of those who do that out of conceit."

 

Any Law has two facets:

  1. The letter of the Law.
  2. The spirit of the Law.

 

The spirit and wisdom behind the above ‘Law’ whereby the Messenger of Allah (saws) forbade the believers to wear the ‘izaar’ or lower garment below the ankles, is that in the times of the Prophet (saws) poverty was so rampant that only the very rich could afford to wear a garment which would be long enough to reach one’s ankles. Thus the rich, in their pride and arrogance, and to show-off their wealth would wear long flowing robes which would go below their ankles (and at times drag on the ground) when most of the population of that times could not even afford to wear enough to cover oneself appropriately!

 

The spirit of the law dictates that a believer at all times should avoid and abstain from all types of things that beget arrogance and pride for his possessions; and if wearing the ‘izaar’ lower than the ankles begets arrogance, then the believers must indeed abstain from it.

 

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 7.8 Narrated by Umar bin Al Khattab

The Prophet (saws) said, "The rewards (of deeds) are according to the intention, and everybody will get the reward for what he has intended.”

 

If one has absolutely no intention of displaying pride or arrogance by wearing his lower garment below his ankles, the majority of the scholars in Islam are of the opinion that Allah Subhanah would not hold him accountable for his deed. But if one so fears Allah Subhanah and wants to make absolutely sure to stay within the letter and the spirit of the law, then it would be safest and absolutely best if one wears clothes whereby the lower garment is above his ankles.

 

Besides, the command and guidance of the Messenger of Allah (saws) for the believers to adorn themselves with lower garments no longer than their ankles is for all times and not only when one offers one’s prayers. Thus it would not be considered righteousness if one only folds ones ankles when one is in prayer and at all other times his lower garments falls below his ankles.

 

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

 

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

 

 

 

Burhan


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