Are the Navel and Knees Part of the ʿAwrah in Salah? Scholarly Viewpoints

The Navel and Knees Are Not Themselves Part of the ʿAwrah
✍ By: Imran Ayub Lahori

Introduction​

There is a scholarly discussion regarding whether the navel and knees are themselves part of the ʿawrah (the area that must be covered during Salah). The stronger opinion is that they are not included in the ʿawrah, based on the analysis of Hadith evidence and scholarly consensus.

❖ Key Evidence Indicating the ʿAwrah Lies Between Navel and Knees​

➊ Narrated in an authentic Hadith:
"مَا بَيْنَ السُّرَّةِ وَالرُّكْبَةِ عَوْرَةٌ"
"What lies between the navel and the knees is ʿawrah."
[Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl, 247]


This narration indicates that the ʿawrah is what lies between the two points — not including the navel and knees themselves.

❖ Weakness of the Report Claiming the Knee is ʿAwrah​

➋ In another narration:
"الرُّكْبَةُ مِنَ العَوْرَةِ"
"The knee is part of the ʿawrah."


This narration is weak, as its chain contains the narrator Naḍr ibn Manṣūr al-Fazārī, who is unreliable.

• Imām al-Bukhārī (رحمه الله): Declared him Munkar al-Ḥadīth (narrator of denounced reports).
• Imām al-Nasā’ī (رحمه الله): Graded him as ḍaʿīf (weak).
  [Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl 4/264]

Scholarly Opinions and Differences​

As in many fiqh matters, the scholars have differed on this issue:


References:

• Al-Umm 1/181
• Ḥilyat al-ʿUlamāʾ 2/62
• Rawḍat al-Ṭālibīn 1/389
• Al-Inṣāf fī Maʿrifat al-Rājiḥ min al-Khilāf 11/451

Rājih (Preferred) Opinion​

• The stronger view is that the knees are not part of the ʿawrah.
• This is supported by Imām al-Shawkānī (رحمه الله):
  "This is the preferred view."
  [Nayl al-Awṭār 1/536]
• Shaykh al-Albānī (رحمه الله) explicitly states:
  “There is no authentic evidence proving that the knees are ʿawrah.”
  [Tamām al-Minnah, p. 160]

Conclusion​

• The authentic Hadith defines the ʿawrah as between the navel and knees.
• The navel and knees themselves are not part of the ʿawrah.
• The report stating that the knee is ʿawrah is weak and not reliable.
• The preferred opinion, supported by major scholars like al-Shawkānī and al-Albānī, is that knees are excluded from the definition of ʿawrah.