Prohibition of Wearing Shoes While Standing: Detailed Ḥadīth Analysis and Discussion on the Authenticity of the Chains
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Vol. 1 – Principles, Takhrīj, and Authentication of Narrations – p. 605
❖ Text of the Ḥadīth
In Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Kitāb al-Libās, Bāb fī al-Ishʿāl, it is narrated:
"حدثنا محمد بن عبد الرحيم أبو يحيى أخبرنا أبو أحمد الزبيري حدثنا إبراهيم بن طهمان عن أبي الزبير عن جابر قال نهى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أن ينتعل الرجل قائما”
Narrated by Jābir رضي الله عنه:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade a man from putting on shoes while standing.
(Abū Dāwūd, ḥadīth 4135)
❖ Commentary on the Chain
This ḥadīth is ḍaʿīf (weak) due to issues in its chain:
1. Tadlīs of Abū al-Zubayr
– Imām al-Nasāʾī رحمه الله lists him among the mudallisīn. (Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ, 7/74)
– He explicitly said: “wa kāna yudallis” (al-Sunan al-Kubrā, 1/640, ḥadīth 210).
– Principle: A narration of a mudallis with ʿanʿanah is not accepted unless he explicitly states ‘ḥaddathanī’ or ‘samiʿtu’. (al-Risālah of Imām al-Shāfiʿī, p. 380, no. 1035)
Thus, this narration is weak due to Abū al-Zubayr’s tadlīs.
❖ Other Weak Witness Narrations (from Three Companions)
① Narration of Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنه
– Reported through Sufyān al-Thawrī (mudallis) → hence weak. (Sunan Ibn Mājah, ḥadīth 3619)
② Narration of Anas رضي الله عنه
– Chain 1: through Qatādah (mudallis) → weak. (Sunan al-Tirmidhī, ḥadīth 1776)
– Chain 2: includes ʿUyainah ibn Sālim (majrūḥ, without tawthīq) → weak. (Kashf al-Astār, 3/366; Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid, 5/139)
③ Narration of Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه
– Chain 1: includes al-Ḥārith ibn Nabḥān (matrūk al-ḥadīth) → weak. (al-Ḍuʿafāʾ wa al-Matrūkīn, p. 165)
– Chain 2: through al-Aʿmash (mudallis, known for tadlīs from weak narrators) → weak unless ṣarīḥ of samāʿ is present. (Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb, 9/121)
– Chain 3: includes Saʿīd ibn Bashīr (weak by majority) and Sayf ibn Karīb (unknown) → weak.
– Chain 4: includes ʿUrwah ibn ʿAlī (majhūl) and Muḥammad ibn Ḥumayd al-Rāzī (weak) → weak.
❖ Shaykh al-Albānī’s Authentication
– Shaykh Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī رحمه الله declared the narration ṣaḥīḥ in al-Silsilah al-Ṣaḥīḥah.
– However, according to ḥadīth principles, due to the prevalence of tadlīs and weak narrators, this grading is not correct.
❖ Position of the Scholars
– Some tried to defend mudallis narrators like Sufyān al-Thawrī and al-Aʿmash, but academically this is not valid.
– Others attempted to combine weak chains to raise the ḥadīth to ḥasan, which goes against sound principles.
Ibn Kathīr رحمه الله stated a principle:
"It is sufficient in a debate to prove weakness in the chain that your opponent presents, unless another authentic chain is established." (Ikhtiṣār ʿUlūm al-Ḥadīth, p. 85, section 22)
❖ Conclusion
– All narrations concerning the prohibition of putting on shoes while standing are weak in sanad.
– The presence of mudallis, majhūl, and majrūḥ narrators renders them inauthentic.
– Hence, these narrations do not reach the level of authenticity and cannot serve as a basis for deriving a legal ruling.
ھذا ما عندي واللہ أعلم بالصواب