The Ruling Co ncerning Prayin g in Pants

Imaam Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaanee

Translation by Maaz Qureshi

Version 1.0
The Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) prohibited the man who was praying
in saraaweel without a waist-wrap over them.1
[1]: Shaykh al-Albaanee (d.1420H) was asked about praying in pants, so he replied, It is
not permissible of course, it is either makrooh (disliked) or haraam (unlawful).2
[2]: Shaykh al-Albaanee was asked if pants constitute resemblance of the disbelievers and
what is the ruling upon praying in pants, so he answered, There is no doubt that they are
a resemblance of the disbelievers. However, these pants that you are considering have
another problem. Since, even if they were not a resemblance of the disbelievers, there is
another reason for their prohibition, though resemblance of the disbelievers is enough of a
prohibition due to the statement of the Prophet (alayhis-salaam) in the well-known hadeeth,
Whosoever resembles a people, then he is from them.3 And he said to a man he saw
wearing the clothes of the disbelievers, These is from the clothes of the disbelievers, so do
not wear them.4 Pants have another problem that is obligatory upon our brothers who
adhere to the Shareeah of our Lord the Blessed and Exalted and the Sunnah of our Prophet
(sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam), it is obligatory upon them to take note of the fact that there is
a very evil problem with pants. That problem is that pants display the awrah and they
show much of that which is considered shameful. Whenever a Muslim stands to pray with
pants and he performs rukoo and he performs sajdah, then they cup his awrah. So it is not
permissible for the Muslim to wear pants, and especially not when he wants to stand in
front of Allaah the Blessed and Exalted.5

Hasan: Related by Aboo Daawood (no. 541) and at-Tahaawee in Sharh Maaaniyyil-Aathaar (1/382). It was
authenticated by al-Albaanee in Saheehul-Jaami (no. 6830).
2
Refer to the taped series, Silsilatul-Hudaa wan-Noor (tape no. 26).
3
Saheeh: Related by Aboo Daawood (no. 4091) and Ahmad in his Musnad (2/50). It was authenticated by alAlbaanee in al-Irwaaul-Ghaleel (no. 1269).
4 Related by Muslim (no. 3872), an-Nisaaee (no. 5221) and Ahmad in his Musnad (no. 6677).
5
Refer to the taped series, Silsilatul-Hudaa wan-Noor (tape no. 229).

The Ruling Concerning Praying in Pants

Imaam Muhammad Naasirud- Deen al-Albaanee
www.SunnahPublishing.net

[3]: Shaykh al-Albaanee said, And the pants (bantaloon) have two problems:
The First Problem: Wearing them is imitation of the disbelievers. And the Muslims used
to wear the baggy saraaweel, which some people still wear today in Syria and Lebanon. So
the Muslims did not know about the pants up until they were colonized. Then, when the
colonialists had retreated, they left behind their evil effects, which the Muslims adopted
due to their desires and their ignorance.
The Second Problem: The pants cup the awrah. And the awrah of the man is from his
knees to his navel. And it is obligatory upon the one who is praying to be far removed
from whatever constitutes disobedience to Allaah whilst he is performing prostration to
Him. So you will see the shape of his buttocks. Rather, you will even see the shape of
what is between them!!
So how can this person pray (with such an appearance) whilst he is standing in front of the
Lord of the worlds?
And from the amazing affairs is that many of the Muslim youth object to the tight clothing
for the women, because such clothes show their bodies, but this youth has forgotten about
himself. So he has fallen into that which he opposes. And there is no difference between
the woman who wears tight clothes which show the shape of her body and between the
youth who wears pants, because they also show his buttocks. So the buttocks of the man
and the buttocks of the woman are both awrah. Both of them are the same. So it is
obligatory upon the youth to pay attention to this due to this problem, which has become
prevalent amongst them, except for the one whom Allaah wills. And how few they are!6

Refer to al-Qawlul-Mubeen fee Akhtaail-Musalleen (p. 20-21) of Mashhoor Hasan Salmaan.