In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Ever Merciful…
It happens that some ladies neglect the issue of covering the feet properly for prayer, while it is an issue which leads to prayer being invalid and unaccepted, according to the majority of Islam’s scholars. Sometimes we underestimate the priority of an issue, and sometimes that can have very serious consequences!
Allah, the Exalted and Most High, commands us to tell the believing women to cover themselves fully with their modest garments. He says:
وقل للمؤمنات يغضضن من أبصارهن ويحفظن فروجهن ولا يبدين زينتهن إلا ما ظهر منها وليضربن بخمرهن على جيوبهن
“And say to the believing women that they are to lower their gazes and protect their private parts, and they are not to expose their beauty, except for what is apparent of it, and they must cover their bodies with their khimaars…” (24:31)
“Except for what is apparent of it,” refers to the face and the hands, according to Ibn ‘Abbaas and the majority of the scholars.(1)
And Allah, the Most High, says:
ياأيها النبي قل لأزواجك وبناتك ونساء المؤمنين يدنين عليهن من جلابيبهن ذلك أدنى أن يعرفن فلا يؤذين وكان الله غفورا رحيما
“O you Prophet! Tell your wives, daughters, and the [other] women among the believers to cover themselves [fully] with their jilbaabs (modest garments). This is so they could be recognized and not harmed. Allah is Oft Forgiving and Ever Merciful.” (33:59)
In these Verses, Allah commands ladies to wear hijaab, mentioning specifically the khimaar and jilbaab, which are modest garments worn to cover the entire body, from head to toe.
This is required when they are out in public, in situations visible to men not part of their immediate family, or in prayer. The 31st Verse of Soorah an-Noor, quoted previously, goes on to list the close family members around whom a woman does not need to cover completely.
As for when praying, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah raise his rank and grant him peace) said:
لا يقبل الله صلاة حائض إلا بخمار
“Allah does not accept the prayer of adult lady not dressed in a khimaar.”(2)
It is reported that Umm Salamah, the Mother of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with her), was asked about what a lady needs to wear when she prays. She replied:
تصلي في الخمار والدرع السابغ إذا غيب ظهور قدميها
“She prays in a khimaar and a long garment which covers over her feet.”(3)
Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allah have Mercy on him) said:
لا تقبل صلاتها إلا بخمار، يعني ساتر، فلا بدّ من ستر شعرها كله، وبدنها كله في الصلاة، حتى أقدامها تسترها، إما بالجوارب، أو بالثوب الساتر المرتخي الذي يستر قدميها.
“Her prayer is not accepted without being dressed in a khimaar, meaning: which is fully covering. So she must cover her hair, entirely, as well as her entire body during prayer. She must even cover her feet, either with socks or with a long garment that hangs low enough to cover her feet.”(4)
The majority of the scholars consider the prayer of a lady with her feet exposed to be invalid, with the exception of some incidental exposure of the bottoms of her feet in prostrations.
What about qadhaa’ (repeating the prayer after covering the feet)?
- Regarding a lady who is incapable of covering (completely) because she does not have access to enough clothing, or because she is in prison and prevented from covering fully, or because of winds that blow her garments in a way that exposes her in the prayer, or any other excuse which is outside of her control, then she has fulfilled her duty, and no qadhaa’ or anything further is required from her.
- When capable of covering, regarding a prayer that was just offered in such a way (with the feet exposed), a lady is to be told to repeat the prayer, as it was invalid.
- Regarding prayers offered in the past, the times of which have ended, then hopefully Allah would excuse what was done in the past because of ignorance of the ruling, and Allah knows best.
- Regarding a lady who knows this ruling, but neglects this issue intentionally, then may Allah aid her in fulfilling genuine repentance and in overcoming whatever has led to such disastrous neglect in her worship of Allah. She should fear Allah and be afraid that a small matter of easily correctable negligence leads to great loss on the Day of Judgment. She should seriously consider that the first matter of all her deeds she will be questioned about on the Day of Judgment is incorrect and invalid with her Creator, and then all the rest of her deeds would all be similar, and this she would be absolutely ruined on the Day of Reckoning!
The Prophet (may Allah raise his rank and grant him peace) said:
إن أول ما يحاسب به العبد يوم القيامة من عمله الصلاة فإن صلحت فقد أفلح وأنجح وإن فسدت فقد خاب وخسر
“Indeed, the first of a worshipper’s actions he/she will be questioned about on the Day of Judgment is the prayer. If it is sound, he/she is successful and triumphant. If it is corrupt, he/she fails and loses.”(5)
In another hadeeth:
أول ما يحاسب به العبد يوم القيامة الصلاة، فإن صلحت صلح له سائر عمله وإن فسدت فسد سائر عمله
“The first thing a worshipper will be questioned about on the Day of Judgment is the prayer. If it is sound, all of the rest of his/her deeds will be sound. If it is corrupt, all the rest of his/her deeds will be corrupt.”(6)
So being that this issue is an easy one to correct, let us fear Allah and be more diligent in our worship, so our sworn enemy does not lead us into ruin and destruction in the Hereafter with an issue so easily correctable!
What about that “minority” opinion held by some scholars?
While there is a position among a minority of the scholars that the woman’s feet are not required to be covered in prayer, ask yourself the following questions in all sincerity:
- When Allah has commanded me to cover myself fully, how certain am I that HE, the Lofty and Exalted, has exempted my feet from this command?
- Am I upon clear, doubt-free evidence that ALLAH HIMSELF has exempted my feet from His Command to cover my body?
- Am I comfortable offering a prayer that the majority of Muslim scholars throughout history would classify as invalid?
- How important is it to me to stick to such a position when covering my feet is so easy; something that would remove me from an issue of differing over such a serious matter of such potentially disastrous results?
May Allah grant us success in worshipping Him in the best way, and may He forgive us and all the believing men and women.
And Allah knows best.
Written by: Moosaa Richardson (1447.06.06)
RESOURCE: PDF of this article (with Arabic quotes fully voweled)
FOOTNOTES:
(1) Tafseer of Ibn Katheer (24:31)
(2) As narrated by ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) and collected by Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, at-Tirmithee, Ibn Maajah, and others; authenticated in Irwaa’ al-Ghaleel (196).
(3) Collected by Maalik in his al-Muwatta’ and Aboo Daawood.
(4) As found on the shaykh’s official website [accessed by this link] [MP3 audio]
(5) As narrated by Aboo Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) and collected by Aboo Daawood, at-Tirmithee, and Ibn Maajah; authenticated in Saheeh Sunan Abee Daawwood (no.810-812)
(6) Collected by at-Tabaraanee in his al-Mu’jam al-Owsat. See: Silsilat al-Ahaadeeth as-Saheehah (no.1358).
The last part of the article regarding the difference of opinion in this issue should be paid more attention to, as this is usually the most common reason for neglecting this issue. This is especially given how many Muslims are raised upon the Hanafi madhab, which the minority position is often attributed to, and Allah knows best. However, another important point to add here is that Imam Abu Hanifah (may Allah have mercy on him) himself said: “If a hadith is authentic, then that is my madhab” and “It is not permissible to take my statements if you do not know the evidences I based it upon”. Thus, it indicates we should not take any qiyaas from a scholar if the evidence for it is unclear. It is known that Abu Hanifah had to rely on qiyaas a lot, because he was limited in his ability to collect hadith and ascertain its authenticity due to the circumstances of his land at the time, by the Decree of Allah. However, he always intended to give precedence to the hadith according to what reaches him, so we do not have the excuses he did when access to hadith is much better than it was in his time, a blessing from Allah most of us take for granted. As the other imams (Malik, Shafi’i and Ahmad ibn Hanbal) held the majority position in this issue, and it is not known of any clear evidence that would exempt the feet from being of the parts which need to be covered for a woman in prayer, the aforementioned statements of Abu Hanifah would indicate that it is much safer to take that majority position.
اَلسَلامُ عَلَيْكُم وَرَحْمَةُ اَللهِ وَبَرَكاتُهُ
Shaykh, I read somewhere that a particular hadith has weakness. Could you clarify whether this weakness is indicative of a minority opinion? Years ago, when I shared this ruling, someone mentioned something about the weakness of the hadith or statements of scholars, but I don’t recall the exact details.
وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته
Your question is too ambiguous for me to help you with it. Please be more specific. Which hadeeth, cite it. Clarify the criticism and/or discussion around it with exact quotes of what you are asking about.
As salamu alaykum shaykh, I have a question about the Hadith of Heraclius and a argument concerning it, a kafir said that since in the Hadith Abu sufyan is asked about whether anyone has apostatized and he said no then this Hadith is weak because “the prophet Salllahu alayhi wassalam or abu sufyan’s son in law or brother in law apostazied” I’m assuming he is referring to Abdullah bin abi Sarh but I’m not sure, so how to respond to this that casts doubt on Sahih Bukhari?
Wa ‘alaykum as-Salaamu wa rahmatullaah. Pathetic. Isn’t it quite easy to assume that if Abu Sufyaan knew of an apostate from Islam at that point in time, he would have mentioned it to Heraclius? Very easy. Yet, someone chooses to assume that Saheeh al-Bukhari is problemtatic? Such people who cast doubts on Islam’s source books of Hadeeth, like Saheeh al-Bukhari, wish to discredit Islam, may Allah guide them.