What is the Ruling on Using Second-Hand (Imported/Thrift) Clothes?
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
❖ Question:
What is the ruling on using second-hand clothes (commonly known as “Lunday ke kapray”)?
❖ Answer:
It is permissible to use such clothes after washing them. There is no harm in using the items of disbelievers or polytheists.
Evidence from Hadith
❀ Sayyidunā Mughīrah ibn Shuʿbah (RA) narrates:
عليه جبة شأمية .
“The Prophet ﷺ was wearing a Syrian cloak.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 363, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 274)
Scholarly Explanation
❀ ʿAllāmah Ibn Baṭṭāl (رحمه الله, d. 449H) said:
فيه من الفقه : إباحة لبس ثياب المشركين؛ لأن الشام كانت ذلك الوقت دار كفر .
“This Hadith proves the permissibility of wearing the clothes of the polytheists, since Syria at that time was the abode of disbelief.”
(Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 2/25)
❀ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Rajab (رحمه الله, d. 795H) said:
جواز الصلاة فيما يجلب من بلاد المشركين من ثيابهم.
“It is permissible to pray in clothes imported from the lands of the polytheists.”
(Fatḥ al-Bārī by Ibn Rajab: 2/378)
Conclusion:Wearing second-hand clothes, even if imported from non-Muslim countries, is permissible after ensuring cleanliness. Such clothing can also be worn in prayer.
