وعن ابن عمر رضي الله عنهما قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم: لا ينظر الله إلى من جر ثوبه خيلا
Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: Allah Almighty will not look at the person who drags his garment out of arrogance.
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Vocabulary: الخيلاء Takabbur is a verbal noun. Horses are called خيل because their gait shows arrogance.
Benefits: “Will not look” means He will not look with mercy and love. Because nothing can be hidden from Allah’s sight, the reason is that the humble and poor deserve the gaze of kindness, while the arrogant and proud are deprived of it and instead become deserving of the gaze of wrath. The Divine command is:
إِنَّ اللَّـهَ لَا يُحِبُّ مَن كَانَ مُخْتَالًا فَخُورًا
“Indeed, Allah does not like the arrogant, boastful person.”
Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:
ثلاثة لا يكلمهم الله يوم القيامة ولا يزكيهم ولهم عذاب اليم المسبل والمنان والمنفق سلعته بالحلف الكاذب
“There are three types of people whom Allah will neither speak to on the Day of Resurrection nor purify, and for them is a painful punishment: the one who drags his garment, the one who shows off his favors, and the one who sells his goods with a false oath.”
➋ This warning about dragging the garment applies to both women and men. Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) understood this hadith in the same way; therefore, in Tirmidhi and Nasai, in the narration of Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them), these words are added: Umm Salamah said: What should women do with their hems? The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: They should hang one cubit. They said: In that case, their feet will be exposed. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Then hang one hand’s length, and do not hang more than that.
From this, it is understood that women who drag several yards of cloth behind them, especially on the occasion of marriage, are included in this warning. Among European nations and those imitating them, Muslim women have also adopted this bad custom of wearing a long gharaara on the wedding occasion that drags behind, sometimes held up by several women walking alongside. These women, afflicted by display and arrogance, are also deprived of Allah’s gaze of mercy. Women should not expose their ankles like men but should cover their feet, and should not hang more than one hand’s length (two cubits) of cloth. It is better to hang only one cubit.
➌ From “who drags his garment out of arrogance,” it is understood that if someone’s garment falls down without arrogance, they are not included in this warning. In Sahih Bukhari, it is narrated from Abdullah ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) that upon hearing this statement of the Prophet (peace be upon him), Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Messenger of Allah! One edge of my cloak hangs down unless I take special care of it. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: إنك لست ممن يصنعه خيلاء “You are not among those who do this out of arrogance.”
Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) says: إلا أن أتعاهد ذلك منه “Unless I take care of it,” meaning when I am negligent, it falls down. In Ahmad’s narration from Muammar from Zaid ibn Aslam, it is said: إن إزارى يسترخى أحيانا, “My cloak sometimes slips down.” It appears that due to walking or movement, the cloak’s knot would loosen without their control, but when they took special care, it did not slip because whenever it started to slip, they would tighten it. Ibn Sa’d narrated from Talha ibn Abdullah ibn Abdul Rahman ibn Abi Bakr from Aisha’s method that Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: كان أبوبكر أحنى لا يستمسك إزاره یسترخى عن حقويه “Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) was short in stature and could not hold his cloak; it would slip from his hips.”
Now it is clear that Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) did not intentionally let his cloak hang down; sometimes it slipped due to negligence. Thus, if someone’s cloak slips down, it is neither arrogance nor blameworthy.
➍ If a person intentionally drags the garment and says he did not do it out of arrogance, this is not correct because the Prophet (peace be upon him) designated the place of the believer’s cloak at the calf muscle (the thick part), then half of the calf, allowing at most up to above the ankles, and forbade hanging below that. Several hadiths are cited as evidence.
عن أبى هريرة رضى الله عنه عن النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم قال ما أسفل من الكعبين من الإزار ففي النار
Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “The part of the cloak below the ankles is in the fire.”
عن حذيفة قال : اخذ رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم بعضلة ساقي او ساقه فقال : ”هذا موضع الإزار“ فإن ابيت فاسفل فإن ابيت فلا حق للإزار فى الكعبين . قال ابوعيسى : هذا حديث حسن صحيح
Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Prophet (peace be upon him) held his calf muscle and said: “This is the place of the cloak. If you do not obey, then a little below this. If you still do not obey, then the cloak has no right to be below the ankles.” Abu Isa (Tirmidhi) said this hadith is Hasan Sahih.
Besides, this hadith is also in Ahmad, Nasai, Ibn Majah; see Sahih al-Tirmidhi 1457.
Abu Sa’id (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:
إزرة المؤمن إلى نصف الساق ولا جناح عليه فيما بينه وبين الكعبين ما كان أسفل من الكعبين فهو فى النار من جر إزاره بطرا لم ينظر الله إليه
“The believer’s cloak should be tied up to half the calf, and between that and the ankles there is no sin. What is below the ankles is in the fire. Whoever drags his cloak out of arrogance, Allah will not look at him.”
➎ Intentionally dragging the cloak is included in arrogance even if the person says he did not do it out of arrogance. Jabir ibn Sulaym (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said among other things:
وارفع إزارك إلى نصف الساق فإن ابيت فإلى الكعبين وإياك وإسبال الإزار فإنها من المخيلة وإن الله لا يحب المخيلة
“And keep your cloak up to half the calf. If you do not obey, then up to the ankles, and avoid dragging the cloak because it is certain that this is out of arrogance, and Allah certainly does not like arrogance.” See also
➏ If a person drags the cloak due to crooked or thin calves, this is also not permissible.
عن الشريد رضى الله عنه قال : أبصر رسول الله رجلا يجر إزاره فأسرع إليه أو هرول فقال : ”إرفع إزارك واتق الله“، قال : إني أحنف تصطك ركبتاي . فقال : ”ارفع إزارك كل خلق الله حسن“، فما رؤي ذلك الرجل بعد إلا إزاره يصيب أنصاف ساقيه .
Sharid (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Prophet (peace be upon him) saw a man dragging his cloak and quickly went to him or ran and said: Raise your cloak and fear Allah. He said: My feet are crooked, and my knees rub together. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Raise your cloak because everything Allah created is beautiful. After that, whenever the man was seen, his cloak was at half the calf.”
The chain of this hadith is authentic, and all its narrators are narrators of Bukhari and Muslim.
This hadith shows that the companion’s dragging of the cloak was not due to arrogance, but the Prophet (peace be upon him) forbade it because it might appear as arrogance.
عن عمرو بن فلان الأنصاري قال بينا هو يمشي قد أسبل إزاره إذ لحقه رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وقد أخذ بناصية نفسه وهو يقول : اللهم عبدك، ابن عبدك، ابن أمتك قال عمرو : قلت : يا رسول الله ! إني رجل حمش الساقين فقال : يا عمرو ! إن الله عز وجل قد أحسن كل شيء خلقه يا عمرو ! وضرب رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم بأربع أصابع من كفه اليمنى تحت ركبة عمرو فقال : يا عمرو ! هذا موضع الإزار ثم رفعها ثم وضعها تحت الثانية فقال : يا عمرو ! هذا موضع الإزار
Amr ibn Fulan al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that once he was walking with his cloak hanging down when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) met him. He was holding the hair of his forehead and saying: O Allah! I am Your servant, the son of Your servant, the son of Your female servant (expressing humility to draw attention to the arrogance shown by the hanging cloak). Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Hearing this, I said: O Messenger of Allah! I am a man with thin calves (so I keep my cloak raised). The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: O Amr! Indeed, Allah created everything beautifully. Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) placed four fingers of his right palm below Amr’s knees and said: O Amr! This is the place of the cloak. Then he lifted his fingers and placed them lower and said: O Amr! This is the place of the cloak. Then he lifted his fingers again and placed them lower and said: O Amr! This is the place of the cloak.”
This hadith was narrated by Tabarani from Abu Umamah (may Allah be pleased with him), who witnessed this incident of Amr ibn Zararah. The Musnad Ahmad narration mentioned above is Amr’s own account, but it mentions Amr ibn Fulan, who is the same as Amr ibn Zararah. Tabarani also narrated this from Amr ibn Zararah himself. Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) says its narrators are trustworthy.
➐ Whoever intentionally sews a cloak or trousers larger than necessary and lets it hang below the ankles is not only arrogant but also has other invalid reasons.
First reason: Israf (extravagance), which is forbidden because Allah has prohibited it.
وَلَا تُسْرِفُوا إِنَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُسْرِفِينَ
“And do not waste [resources], indeed He does not like the wasteful.”
وَلَا تُبَذِّرْ تَبْذِيرًا ٭ إِنَّ الْمُبَذِّرِينَ كَانُوا إِخْوَانَ الشَّيَاطِينِ وَكَانَ الشَّيْطَانُ لِرَبِّهِ كَفُورًا
“And do not waste [resources]. Indeed, the wasteful are brothers of the devils, and the devil is ever ungrateful to his Lord.”
Second reason: Resemblance to women, which is more apparent than extravagance.
Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated:
أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لعن المرأة تلبس لبسة الرجل والرجل يلبس لبسة المرأة
“The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) cursed the woman who dresses like a man and the man who dresses like a woman.”
Hakim said this hadith is authentic according to Muslim’s conditions.
It is clear that if a woman exposes her ankles, she resembles a man, and if a man covers his ankles, he resembles a woman.
Third reason: There is a concern that the cloak of the one who drags it may get some impurity, whereas Allah commands: وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ
“Keep your clothes clean.” The Commander of the Faithful, Umar ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), forbade dragging the cloak and gave this as one reason.
In Sahih Bukhari, the detailed incident of Umar ibn Al-Khattab’s martyrdom is mentioned. Amr ibn Maymun narrated that when the Commander of the Faithful was stabbed in the stomach, he was brought home. We also went with him. Nabidh was prepared; it came out from the wound. Then milk was brought; he drank it, and it came out from the wound. People became certain that he would die. We entered him, and people started coming and praising him. A young man came and said: Commander of the Faithful, rejoice with glad tidings from Allah. You know the blessings you received from the company of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and your advancement in Islam. Then you became a ruler and ruled justly, then you attained martyrdom. He said: I prefer that all this remains equal; neither burden upon me nor benefit for me. When he was about to leave, his cloak was touching the ground. He said: Bring that young man back to me and said:
يا ابن أخي إرفع ثوبك فانه انقي لثوبك واتقي لربك
“Nephew, raise your garment because it helps keep your clothes cleaner and makes you fear your Lord more.”
Here, those brothers who consider hanging cloth below the ankles trivial should reflect that even in such a painful condition, the Commander of the Faithful forbade hanging the cloth.
➑ The word من جر ثوبه إلخ mentioned in the hadith under discussion clearly shows that the Prophet (peace be upon him) forbade not only hanging the cloak but also any garment such as cloak, trousers, or shirt from hanging.
