Ruling on Wudu When Trousers or Garment Hang Below the Ankles
Taken from: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Vol. 1, Kitāb al-Ṭahārah, p. 229
Does wudu break if trousers, a sheet, or a lower garment hang below the ankles?
(A Questioner)
Al-ḥamdulillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ʿammā baʿd!
As for the question of whether wudu breaks due to this, there is no explicit evidence known to me. However, according to my research, there exists a ḥasan (sound) narration in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded a person to repeat wudu because his lower garment was hanging below the ankles.
(See: Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, Bāb al-Isbāl fī al-Ṣalāh, Ḥadīth: 638)
One of the narrators of this report is Abū Jaʿfar al-Muʾadhin, whom some hadith scholars declared majhūl al-ḥāl (unknown in status). However, several prominent scholars have considered him trustworthy or ḥasan in hadith:
◈ Ibn Ḥibbān – (See: Mawārid al-Ẓamʾān, Ḥadīth: 2406)
◈ Imām al-Tirmidhī – He graded the hadith as ḥasan. (Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī, Ḥadīth: 3448)
◈ Imām al-Nawawī – He considered this hadith ṣaḥīḥ in Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn.
◈ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar – He strengthened the hadith in Takhrīj al-Adhkār.
◈ Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī – He stated: “Yaḥyá ibn Abī Kathīr narrated from him, and Yaḥyá ibn Abī Kathīr only narrates from trustworthy narrators.”
Given such strong validation, it is incorrect to label this narrator as majhūl, and hence the narration is of ḥasan grade.
(Shahādat, April 2004 | al-Ḥadīth, Issue 9)
➊ There is no explicit or definitive evidence that wudu is nullified by garments hanging below the ankles.
➋ However, a ḥasan narration exists in which a person was ordered to repeat wudu for having his lower garment below the ankles.
ھٰذا ما عندي، واللّٰه أعلم بالصواب
Taken from: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Vol. 1, Kitāb al-Ṭahārah, p. 229
❖ Question:
Does wudu break if trousers, a sheet, or a lower garment hang below the ankles?
(A Questioner)
❖ Answer:
Al-ḥamdulillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ʿammā baʿd!
As for the question of whether wudu breaks due to this, there is no explicit evidence known to me. However, according to my research, there exists a ḥasan (sound) narration in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded a person to repeat wudu because his lower garment was hanging below the ankles.
(See: Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, Bāb al-Isbāl fī al-Ṣalāh, Ḥadīth: 638)
❖ Status of the Narrator Abū Jaʿfar al-Muʾadhin According to Hadith Scholars
One of the narrators of this report is Abū Jaʿfar al-Muʾadhin, whom some hadith scholars declared majhūl al-ḥāl (unknown in status). However, several prominent scholars have considered him trustworthy or ḥasan in hadith:
◈ Ibn Ḥibbān – (See: Mawārid al-Ẓamʾān, Ḥadīth: 2406)
◈ Imām al-Tirmidhī – He graded the hadith as ḥasan. (Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī, Ḥadīth: 3448)
◈ Imām al-Nawawī – He considered this hadith ṣaḥīḥ in Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn.
◈ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar – He strengthened the hadith in Takhrīj al-Adhkār.
◈ Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī – He stated: “Yaḥyá ibn Abī Kathīr narrated from him, and Yaḥyá ibn Abī Kathīr only narrates from trustworthy narrators.”
Given such strong validation, it is incorrect to label this narrator as majhūl, and hence the narration is of ḥasan grade.
(Shahādat, April 2004 | al-Ḥadīth, Issue 9)
❖ Conclusion:
➊ There is no explicit or definitive evidence that wudu is nullified by garments hanging below the ankles.
➋ However, a ḥasan narration exists in which a person was ordered to repeat wudu for having his lower garment below the ankles.
ھٰذا ما عندي، واللّٰه أعلم بالصواب
