Shaikh al-Albānī on garments below the ankle

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AbuKhuzaimahAnsari
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Shaikh al-Albānī on garments below the ankle

Postby AbuKhuzaimahAnsari » Tue Sep 12, 2017 11:40 pm

The following statement has been going around

One of Shaykh Albani's friends from Jordan, who Shaykh Albani would often ask for advise:
He was asked: Is is haram to have the clothes below their ankle for a man?
He replied: How can I make something Haram what the early scholars and four imams considered permissible?

- Shaykh Mohammad Ibn Mahmoud al-Selawi


These points In shāʾ Allāh will bring further clarification to the statement above.

No.1
This friend is not maʿrūf, the general people do not know who he is, in comparison to the well known students and people who benefitted from Shaikh al-Albānī and they are known. In this regard we are unable to verify the reliability of this friend. When was this statement made, what year and where, and are there any other corroborating witnesses especially since it is disputable and contentious. If someone is going to be so brazen to make such statements or the one who then carelessly narrates it make a point, let us apply the principles of narrating to them. The reality is the madhabists want to take some credit from the great Shuyūkh in order to justify their viewpoints. Ya Akhī the obligation upon you are the divine texts and not the words of men!

No.2
None of the well known and famous students of Shaikh al-Albānī have transmitted this from him, such students are great in number, active in teaching and also authored hundreds of books and research based treatises between them; none of them have transmitted this. In fact one student has authored a specific book on the issue of the garments below the ankle and he does not cite this odd and aberrant view. From the numerous students of the Shaikh to our knowledge, not a single one of them has transmitted this from him, hence the alleged statement is to be rejected on the basis that it is Shadh and thus rejected.

No.3
We find the opposite from Shaikh al-Albānī and all the aḥadīth he authenticates which indicate the prohibition and forbiddance in letting the garment below the ankle, such ahadīth are so many that one could compile a whole book.

No.4
Shaikh al-Albānī has authored hundreds of books, some of which run into volumes and everyone knows the level of research, precision and meticulousness of the Shaikh, how he deals with issues and his clarification of them. From all of his works; which range from Aqīdah, Fiqh, Ḥadīth, the science of Ḥadīth, ʿUṣūl al-Fiqh we do not find a SINGLE statement even remotely suggesting the alleged statement above.

No.5
It is also known to the student of knowledge and even the beginner that Shaikh al-Albānī was a person of evidence and proof, he spent his whole life propagating an evidence approach to all matters, with the final resolve being the divine texts. It is therefore incredibly insensitive to say the least; to even suggest that he would hold the view of the four madhabs or Imāms as evidence. It is a totally different matter to even allege this was the view of the four Imāms and the early scholars. In fact it is outright ridiculous to suggest Shaikh al-Albānī would forsake the texts for the view of men. I mean look at his books, pick any one book and just read 2-3 pages and you will come to known the methodology of the Shaikh was to return to the texts.

No.6
Shaikh al-Albānī has in his various works opposed and went against the view of the earlier scholars, and there so many examples that it is bizarre and embarrassing that we have to even mention this. For example Shaikh al-Albānī goes against the authentication and disparagement of the earlier scholars on narrators and he has even discussed the narrators and narrations in Bukhārī and Muslim. He even opposed so many views of the Imāms and scholars of the past, why would it be different in this issue?

No.7
The wording is also suspect and this is an extension of the points above, because we know Shaikh al-Albānī's methodology was to refer to the nusus to make a ruling whether something was lawful, unlawful, prohibited, forbidden and or inherently disliked or the opposite and not look at the position or view of the the four madhabs. For instance one only has to read the introduction to the Ṣifah Ṣalāh to get a good idea that this alleged statement is questionable and perhaps a gross misunderstanding and or even idraj by the narrators and transmitter.

No.8
Shaikh al-Albānī has hundreds and hundreds of hours of recordings of his lessons, phone call conversations, questions and answer sessions, meetings, sermons etc. In fact he has the worlds best known series i.e. Silsilah Huda wan-Nūr as well as other series and we do not find a single statement from the Sheikhs own mouth in any of the hundreds of recordings, that he even said something remotely similar to the statement above.

No.9
Let us look at this is from another perspective, none of the numerous aḥadīth which discuss the issue of the garments below the ankle, mention the words ḥarām. There are so many narrations that the sheer number of them indicate and allude to prohibition i.e. being ḥarām. This is another discussion of ʿUṣūl al-Fiqh and what surprises us even more, the madhabist lovers under the garb and famous shield they use to hide behind of 'the four schools of thought' know very well because they engross themselves in ʿUṣūl al-Fiqh know that certain words indicate Nahi i.e. prohibition, words that indicate punishment are prohibited etc and on the other end their is Amr to raise the garment and again Amr is is for wujūb, yet they still have the mind boggling audacity to narrate and transmit such high suspect allegations.

No.10
The threat to punish those who drag their garments below the ankles is clear. the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "The part of the Izār which hangs below the ankles is in the fire." (Bukhārī no.678). the garments below the ankles are a violation of this command. Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajr hols the literal meaning of this ḥadīth to be true i.e. the clothes below the ankle will be in the fire and he quotes the āyah Sūrah al-Anbiyā (21:98, See Fatḥ al-Bārī (10:268 no.5789)

No.11
In fact, the majority of the scholars i.e. the jumhūr agree that when the text is in the imperative form, it is intended for Taḥrīm (i.e. making something harām or unlawful), unless there is another authentic evidence that indicates otherwise. In one incident the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saw someone dragging his lower garment. he ﷺ rushed to him and said, "Pull up your Izār and fear Allāh," The man said, "I am Ahnāf (distortion of the foot which move towards each other) a person with trembling knees," He ﷺ said, "Tug up your Izār, certainly all of Allāh's creation is good." Since then the man was not seen except with his Izār touching the middle of his Shins or up to the middle of his Shins." (Ahmad on the condtions of Bukhārī and Muslim, refer to Silsilah āḥadīth al-Ṣaḥīḥaḥ (no.1441). There are many other āḥadīth which clearly command and are thus are the imperative form. Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajr said about some of these āḥadīth that the apparent meaning of the ḥadīth indicates that it is FORBIDDEN." (Fatḥ al-Bārī (10:263)
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Re: Shaikh al-Albānī on garments below the ankle

Postby AbuKhuzaimahAnsari » Wed Sep 13, 2017 5:58 pm

Words within arrows are the words from the article from islamqa, >>>abc<<<

In response to what we wrote regarding the alleged statement from Shaikh al-Albānī a brother posted an article from https://islamqa.info/en/102260 in response, showing the alleged view of the majority. we did not even talk about the intrinsic details of the issue of Isbāl or lowering the garments below the ankles.

SubhānAllāh how strange and bizarre, our brother claimed he wanted to show the other opinion. Sure, but we did not even discuss the issue, we merely presented a very brief clarification of an alleged statement attributed to Shaikh al-Albānī. I also asked our brother if he had read the article he posted and he said he did. Well if that is the case then the opening words were grossly overlooked and glossed over, which would have rendered his words, ‘other opinion’ to be null and void.

What are we referring to? The contention was the allegation

He was asked: Is is haram to have the clothes below their ankle for a man?
He replied: How can I make something Haram what the early scholars and four imams considered permissible?

However, the opening words of the article showing this ‘other opinion’ said,

>>>Praise be to Allaah.

If a man lets his garment hang down below the ankle with the intention of being conceited and showing off, this is HARAAM (emphasis mine) and there is no difference of scholarly opinion concerning that, rather it is a major sin. 

In the answer to question no. 762 we have quoted some of the ahaadeeth which speak of the prohibition on that.<<< 


So there is NO scholarly difference of opinion that it is HARAM if a man lets his garment hang down below his ankle with the intention of being conceited and showing off. So the question is, the very same article they posted says its HARAM and for them to argue Shaikh al-Albānī was referring to the conceited or showing off type is in need of evidence and Hujjah, which they will never be able to provide.

The article they posted goes onto say,

>>>With regard to the one who lets his garment hang below his ankle with no intention of being conceited and showing off, the scholars differed in this case and there are three points of view: that it is haraam, that it is makrooh and that it is permissible and not makrooh.<<<

The actual fatwa from the website no.762 they themselves refer to answers this claim itself, the claim that it is only makruh ie disliked if it the garment hangs down below the ankles due to arrogance, conceit and showing off. The article says the following, which is an answer to the information contained in the posted article.

Unlike, the posted article which we don’t even know who wrote, the deductions are invalid as we do not even know how is making the ijtihad, whereas in our article we are clarifying without making a hukm, interestingly enough the article we have posted below is by Shaikh Muḥammad Ṣāleḥ al-Munajjad

It states,

Assalamu Alaikum

A brother was telling me that wearing clothing below the ankles is haram and that there are many hadiths that prove this. I would appreciate your opinion on this matter.

Jazakallah
Published Date: 1998-04-18

Praise be to Allaah.
What your friend has told you is true. Many ahaadeeth were reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) which forbid isbaal (wearing one’s clothes below the ankles), for example:

Al-Bukhaari reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Whatever of the izaar (lower garment) is below the ankles is in the Fire." (al-Bukhaari, no. 5787)

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "There are three whom Allaah will not look at or praise on the Day of Judgement and theirs will be a painful punishment: the one who wears his garment below his ankles, the one who reminds others of his favours, and the one who sells his product by means of making false oaths" (reported by Muslim, no. 106)

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Isbaal (wearing one’s garment below the ankles) may apply to the izaar (lower garment), the shirt or the turban. Whoever allows any part of these to trail on the ground out of arrogance, Allaah will not look at him on the Day of Judgement." (reported by Abu Dawud, no. 4085, and al-Nisaa’i, no. 5334, with a saheeh isnaad).

Ibn ‘Abbaas reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Allaah will not look at the one who wears his lower garment below his ankles." (Reported by al-Nisaa’i in al-Mujtabaa, Kitaab al-Zeenah, Baab Isbaal al-Izaar).

Hudhayfah said: "The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) took hold of the muscle of my calf (or his calf) and said, ‘This is where the izaar should stop; if you insist, it may be lower, but it should not reach the ankles.’" (Reported by al-Tirmidhi, who said this is a saheeh hasan hadeeth; see Sunan al-Tirmidhi, no. 1783)

All of the ahaadeeth quoted above speak against isbaal, whether or not the intention is to show off; but if a person does this deliberately out of arrogance, there is no doubt that his sin is greater. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Allaah will not look at the one who trails his izaar on the ground out of pride." (al-Bukhaari, no. 5788)

Jaabir ibn Sulaym said: "The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to me: ‘Beware of wearing one’s lower garment below the ankles, because this is a kind of showing-off, and Allaah does not love showing-off.’" (Regarded as saheeh by al-Tirmidhi, no. 2722).

No one is able to be completely free of pride and arrogance, even if he claims that this is so. Such a claim is unacceptable, because by saying it, he is praising himself. Only in the case of those whom the wahy (revelation) testified that they were free of pride do we believe that this is the case. For example, there is a hadeeth which states that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Whoever trails his garment on the ground out of pride, Allaah will not look at him on the Day of Resurrection." Abu Bakr said to him, "O Messenger of Allaah, my izaar slips down if I do not pay attention to it." He said: "You are not one of those who do it out of pride." (Reported by al-Bukhaari, no. 5784)

What indicates that isbaal is prohibited even if it is not done out of pride is the hadeeth of Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri, may Allaah be pleased with him, who said: "The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘The lower garment of the Muslim should come down to mid-calf, but there is nothing wrong if it is between that point and the ankles. Whatever is lower than the ankles is in the Fire. Whoever trails his garment on the ground out of pride, Allaah will not look at him." (Reported by Abu Dawud, no. 4093, with a saheeh isnaad.)

These ahaadeeth describe two different deeds, for which there will be two different punishments:

Imaam Ahmad reported that Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Ya’qoob said: "I asked Abu Sa’eed: ‘Did you hear anything from the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) concerning the izaar (lower garment)?’ he said, ‘Yes, listen! ‘The izaar of the believer should come to mid-calf, although there is nothing wrong if it comes between there and the ankles, but whatever is lower than the ankles is in the Fire,’ and he said it three times."

Ibn ‘Umar said: "I passed by the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and my izaar had slipped down. He said, ‘O ‘Abdullaah, pull up your izaar!’ so I pulled it up. He said, ‘More!’ so I pulled it up more, and always made sure it was pulled up properly after that." Some people asked, "To where did you pull it up?" He said, "To mid-calf length." (Reported by Muslim, no. 2086; al-Dhahabi, Kitaab al-Kabaa’ir, 131-132)

The issue of isbaal applies to women just as much as it applies to men. This is indicated by the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Umar, may Allaah be pleased with him, who said: "The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘Whoever trails his garment on the ground out of pride, Allaah will not look at him.’ Umm Salamah said: ‘O Messenger of Allaah, what should women do with their hems?’ He said, ‘Let them go down a handspan.’ She asked, ‘What if their feet show?’ He said, ‘Let them lengthen it by a cubit, but no more.’" (al-Nisaa'i, Kitaab al-zeenah, Baab dhuyool al-nisaa’).

The punishment for showing off may come to pass in this world, not in the Hereafter. Abu Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Whilst a man was walking arrogantly admiring himself and his clothes, Allaah caused the earth to swallow him and he is suffering in it until the Day of Resurrection." (Reported by Muslim, no. 2088).
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Re: Shaikh al-Albānī on garments below the ankle

Postby AbuKhuzaimahAnsari » Sun Oct 01, 2017 10:36 am

This is an apparent video of the said individual

https://youtu.be/7tx1xxnxw1M

He begins by praising the individual who has opposed the Salafi Manhaj and everyone is pretty much unanimous on his misguidance, and that is Abdur Rahman Abdul Khaliq who was the promoter and ardent backbone of the Sururi's and Qutubi's.

The claimant praises the likes of Abdur Rahman Abdul Khaliq and thus much is left to the imagination with regards to his reality.

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