Those who held that the thigh is not awrah, and what was said about the navel and knee

(a) It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) went out to fight at Khaybar. We prayed the dawn prayer near Khaybar while it was still dark. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and Abu Talhah (may Allah be pleased with him) mounted, and I was riding behind Abu Talhah (may Allah be pleased with him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made his mount run through the lanes of Khaybar, and meanwhile my knee kept touching his thigh. Then he moved the waist-wrapper away from his thigh, and I could see the whiteness and brightness of his thigh. When he (peace and blessings be upon him) entered the settlement of Khaybar, he said: "Allah is the Greatest! Khaybar is ruined." Then he said: "When we descend upon the courtyard of a people, evil is the morning of those who were warned." And he narrated the hadith in full.
(b) In Sahih Muslim it says that the waist-wrapper slipped from his (peace and blessings be upon him) thigh.
And in the narration of Musnad Ahmad it says that his thigh became uncovered.

(b) The Companion's words "inhasara" (it slipped) or "inkashafa" (it became uncovered) prove that he (peace and blessings be upon him) did not uncover his thigh intentionally. While riding, a person's thigh or awrah may become uncovered because of the wind, a fall or some other reason, so this would not be attributed to (deliberate) uncovering.
(c) In the first narration, the Companion's words "then he moved the waist-wrapper away from his thigh" may possibly mean that the uncovering was due to the narrowness of the lanes through which he (peace and blessings be upon him) was making his mount run. In that case the action would be due to the walls of the lanes, not an act of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); and it would agree with the other narrations transmitted from Isma'il and others, and also with the hadiths in which the thigh is called awrah.
(d) And it is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: My knee was touching the knee of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). In it, the uncovering of the thigh is not mentioned.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) reached Khaybar at night. When morning came, he mounted, and his Companions also mounted and set off. The people of Khaybar came out with their tools and baskets as usual, and when they saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), they cried out: By Allah! Muhammad and his army are advancing! Then they fled in fear, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Khaybar is ruined! When we descend upon the courtyard of a people, evil is the morning of those who were warned."
Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: That day I was riding behind Sayyiduna Abu Talhah (may Allah be pleased with him) on the same mount, and my knee was touching the knee of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). In another narration it says: My foot was touching the foot of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).

(a) The same hadith is reported from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) through another chain.
(b) Abu Hatim (may Allah have mercy on him) relates: I said to al-Ansari: What does "al-khamis" mean? He said: "jaysh" (an army).
(c) Those who do not consider the thigh to be awrah have also argued for this position from the narration about Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him), concerning the story of Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) in this matter.

(a) Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was lying down in his house with his thighs or shins uncovered. Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) asked permission to enter; he gave him permission, and remained as he was while they talked. Then Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came and asked permission to enter, and he granted him permission too. He also came in and they talked in the same state. Then Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) came and asked his permission. He gave him permission as well, and at the same time he sat up and arranged his clothes. The narrator said: I do not say that this happened on a single day. Then he too began to talk. When these men had left, Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: O Messenger of Allah! Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) came in and you did not get up, nor did you pay any attention. Then Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came and again you did not get up, nor did you adjust yourself. Then Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) came, and you sat up and arranged your clothes? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Should I not feel shy before a man before whom even the angels feel shy?"
(b) In Sahih Muslim the words are "uncovering his thighs or his shins", with doubt.
A report of this kind, with doubt, cannot be set against the sahih and explicit hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanding that the thigh be covered and stating plainly that the thigh is awrah. This narration has also been transmitted by Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, who had the best memory among them, and he did not mention anything of this kind in the story.

(a) Sa'id bin al-As said that it is narrated from Sayyiduna Uthman and Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with them both) that Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) asked permission to come to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) while he (peace and blessings be upon him) was lying on the bed wrapped in the wrap of Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her). Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) was given permission to come in, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) remained in that state. He stated his need and left. Then Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) asked permission; he too was given permission while the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) remained in that state, and he too stated his need and left. Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Then I asked permission of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sat up and said to Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her): "Gather your clothes about you." Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I put my need before him and then I too left. Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: O Messenger of Allah! I did not see you hasten to sit up when Abu Bakr and Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) came, the way you hastened to sit up when Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) came? The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) is a very modest man. I feared that if I gave him permission while I was in that state, he might not be able to state his need."
(b) In the narration of Sahih Muslim, neither the thigh nor the shin is mentioned.

It is narrated from Abdullah bin Abi Sa'id al-Madini that Hafsah bint Umar (may Allah be pleased with her) said: One day the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was sitting with his garment placed between his thighs. Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) came and asked permission; the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him permission and he (peace and blessings be upon him) remained sitting as he was. Then Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came and the same happened. Then Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) came, then other people kept coming and going, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) remained sitting as he was. Then Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) came and asked permission, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) arranged his garment. Hafsah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: The people sat talking and then left. I said: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) came, Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came, Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) came, and the rest of your Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) came, yet you remained sitting in the same state; but when Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) came, you immediately arranged your garment? The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Should I not feel shy before the man before whom even the angels feel shy?"

It is narrated from Sayyidah Hafsah bint Umar (may Allah be pleased with her) that one day the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to me, and he had placed his garment between his thighs.
It is possible that he (peace and blessings be upon him) had taken hold of one edge of his garment and placed it between his thighs, for nothing else is to be supposed of him; and in this way it is the knees that may be uncovered, not the thighs.

A similar narration is reported from Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him), except that Asim added that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was in a place where there was water, and he had uncovered his knees. When Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) came, he covered them.
There is no proof in this hadith for those who hold that the thigh is not awrah. His (peace and blessings be upon him) having uncovered his knees before Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) came in only indicates that the knees are not part of the awrah. The hadith of Amr bin Shu'ayb likewise indicates this, and that the navel is not part of the awrah; rather, the awrah of a man is what lies between the two (the navel and the knees).

It is narrated from Muhammad bin Sirin (may Allah have mercy on him) that Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Sayyiduna al-Hasan (may Allah be pleased with him): "Lift your shirt from your stomach so that I may kiss where I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kissing." So he lifted his shirt, and he kissed his navel.

Umayr bin Ishaq relates: I was with al-Hasan (may Allah be pleased with him) when he met Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: "Show me; I wish to kiss you the way I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kissing." Then, with both his jaws, he placed his mouth on his navel.

(a) It is narrated from Abu al-Ala, the freed slave of the Aslam, that he said: I saw Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him); he used to tie his waist-wrapper above the navel.
(b) This narration does not contradict (the view) that the navel is not awrah, because he tied the waist-wrapper above the navel only so that it would enclose the whole awrah. 'Wa billahi al-tawfiq' (And success is only through Allah).