Ibn Majah

Benefits and Issues:

➊ With this chain of narration, this hadith is weak. However, in Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah, this hadith is reported with the wording that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: When a person prays, he should not place his shoes to his right side, nor to his left side, except in the case where there is no one to his left (i.e., no worshipper). He should place them between his feet. (Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah, Kitab al-Salat, The Comprehensive Chapter on Praying on Mats, Chapter: Mention of the Prohibition of Placing the Worshipper’s Shoes to His Left if There is a Worshipper to His Left...) Regarding this, Shaykh al-Albani rahimahullah said: Its chain is hasan, as I have explained in Sahih Abu Dawud, hadith (661). And due to the chain of the previous narration (1009), this hadith is sahih. (Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah, commentary on hadith: 1016) That is, Shaykh al-Albani rahimahullah has declared it sahih li-ghayrihi there.

➋ Placing shoes to the left side is prohibited when there is a worshipper present to the left. In that case, the shoes would end up on that worshipper’s right side.

➌ Placing shoes behind oneself is permissible. However, if someone is praying behind, then the shoes would cause harm to that person. In such a case, one should not place them behind. Yes, one may place them in a spot where they are not to the right of another worshipper, i.e., directly behind or completely to the left.

➍ Some scholars have written that if placing shoes to the right is prohibited, then placing them in front of the worshipper should be even more so. However, this reasoning does not seem correct, because when a person prays with his shoes on (which is a permissible act), in that case too, the shoes will be in front of another worshipper. Therefore, merely having the shoes in front cannot be considered prohibited. There should be a clear text of prohibition, which, to the best of our knowledge, does not exist. Another argument is made from the narration in al-Mu’jam al-Saghir of al-Tabarani, in which the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: “When one of you removes his shoes, he should not place them in front of him, so that following the shoes in prayer does not become necessary...” (al-hadith). However, Shaykh al-Albani rahimahullah has not only declared this hadith weak, but severely weak. See: (al-Da‘ifah, hadith: 986). Therefore, reasoning from this hadith is also not correct. In this regard, there is no clear evidence prohibiting having or placing shoes in front of the worshipper; at most, placing shoes in front of the worshipper may be considered contrary to etiquette, and it is better to avoid it. And Allah knows best.