Assalamo Alaikum

Please write something about the dress that goes beyond the foot ankle. I have attached a file that contains some discussion on this and is apparently written by Mufti Muhammad Shafi.

Allah Hafiz

Hamid

Dear Hamid Walekum Assalam WRWB

I hope you are ok. May Allah increase your knowledge and help you lead your life in the light of teachings of Islam, Amen!

Answer

I have gone through all ahadith that you have listed. All of these are given in Riyadh-us-Salehin, Book of Dress, Chapter 119.

All these ahadith talk about the punishment to those who don long dresses in order to show pride or arrogance. These ahadith use the words khuyala (conceit or arrogance) or batara (pride) as the reason of prohibition.

In the hadith about the First Caliph Abu Bakr Siddiq R, the Prophet (S) had told him that it was ok to let the dress be lengthy as he was not doing it because of any show of arrogance. Here the word “khuyala” is used in the hadith, and not the word ma‘zoor (excused) as given in your version. It then implies that, if people wear long dresses, because of their habit or culture, and not because of showing pride, then it is ok.

For a detailed discussion, please see my article Libas Kay Islami Taqadhay, uploaded on my website in the month of March, 2007. It was also published in the March issue of Zindagi-e-Nau – a reputed journal of an Islamic Movement of India.

Wallaho Alam Bith-Thawab

Wassalam

Syed Hasanuddin Ahmad