Women
showing their feet
source:
silsilat ul-hudā wa nnūr ~ the series of guidance and light
~ tape no. 697
Question #3: “Is it allowed for the woman to pray with her
feet uncovered?”
Shaykh al-Albānī answers:
“It is not permissible for her to pray with the feet
uncovered, and it is not even allowed for her to walk in the
streets with the feet uncovered, because the feet are part
of the ʽawrah[1] of a woman by the text of Allāh’s saying:
‘And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they
hide of their adornment.’[2] The woman during jāhiliyyah[3]
used to put on what is known in the Arabic language as
khalkhāl (anklet), meaning an ornamental band having small
bells. So when the woman walked, she – in order for the eyes
of the men and young men to turn toward her – would strike
on the ground with her feet so that the anklet would make a
noise, then the men would hear that; and this is due to the
whisperings of shaytān to her.
The meaning of this is that the feet are (to be) covered. By
what? By the jilbāb that women were commanded to place over
their heads, according to the saying of Allāh, the Mighty
and Majestic: ‘O Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)! Tell your
wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to
draw their cloaks (veils) all over their bodies.’[4] And it
has been mentioned in the authentic hadīth that the Prophet
(صلى الله عليه وسلم) said one day during a gathering in
which there were also women: ‘Whoever drags his garment out
of pride, Allāh will not look at him on the Day of
Resurrection.’ One of the women said: ‘O Messenger of Allāh,
then our feet will be exposed.’[5] He (صلى الله عليه وسلم)
said that (the women) make (the garment) long by a
hand-span. She said: ‘Then, a wind will come and uncover
(their feet).’[6] He (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said that they
increase (it) by another hand-span, i.e., a forearm-span,
and they don’t go beyond it.[7]
Thus, at the time of the revelation of the previously
mentioned āyah – ‘to draw their cloaks (veils) all over
their bodies’ – the jilbāb of the Muslim woman used to cover
the feet, when there weren’t the socks that are widespread
now among both women and men; they were not widespread
during that time. The woman used to cover her shins and feet
with the long jilbāb that resembles the ʽabā’a. Therefore,
it is not permissible for the Muslim woman to uncover her
feet while she is on the road; it is with greater reason not
permissible for her to pray while her feet are uncovered.”
~ asaheeha translations ~
[1] something private that should be covered
[2] Sūrat un-Nūr, 24:31
[3] the pre-Islamic days of ignorance
[4] Sūrat ul-Ahzāb, 33:59
[5] the original wording mentioned in the narration is: “So
how will the women make the bottom of their garments?”
[6] the original wording mentioned in the narration is:
“Then their feet will be exposed”
[7] Sahīh at-Tirmidhī #1731
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