Ibn Majah

1؎: Many hadiths have been narrated in this chapter; in fact, scholars have written independent treatises specifically on this issue. The summary is that performing prayer while wearing shoes is recommended (mustahabb) and a Sunnah. The statement of those who say that removing the shoes for prayer is an act of respect (adab) is incorrect, because none of the actions of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam can be contrary to adab. In another hadith, it is stated: "Pray while wearing shoes and oppose the Jews, for they do not pray wearing shoes." However, it is necessary that the shoes be pure and clean. In our Shariah, the purity of shoes is established by rubbing them on the ground, and washing the shoes is not proven from any hadith, nor is it transmitted from the pious predecessors (salaf salihin). However, it should be clear that in this era of civilization and urbanization, when it is customary to have flooring and carpets in mosques, it is inappropriate to enter them wearing shoes—especially in the mosques of cities and villages of the Indian subcontinent, where the soil, mud, filth of the roads, and garbage stick to a person's shoes and clothes, making them dirty. As for the Arab world, the general ground there is sandy and rocky, and usually, even after something sticks to the shoes or body, it becomes clean by itself or by rubbing. In any case, maintaining cleanliness and purity is a very important matter, and the permissibility of praying in clean shoes at an appropriate place is a separate issue. Thus, even today in Arab countries, people perform prayer wearing shoes, but they do not pray in mosques while wearing shoes; rather, in every mosque, there are places inside and outside where shoes are kept before a person enters the mosque.