Praise be to Allah.
Is it prohibited to wear clothes below the ankles?
What your friend has told you is true. Many Hadiths were reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) which forbid Isbal (wearing one’s clothes below the ankles ), for example:
- Al-Bukhari reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Whatever of the Izar (lower garment) is below the ankles is in the Fire." (Narrated by Al-Bukhari, 5787)
- The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "There are three whom Allah will not look at or praise on the Day of Judgement and theirs will be a painful punishment: the one who wears his garment below his ankles, the one who reminds others of his favours, and the one who sells his product by means of making false oaths" (Narrated by Muslim, 106)
- The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Isbal (wearing ones garment below the ankles) may apply to the Izar (lower garment), the shirt or the turban. Whoever allows any part of these to trail on the ground out of arrogance, Allah will not look at him on the Day of Judgement." (Narrated by Abu Dawud, 4085, and An-Nisa’i, 5334, with an authentic chain of narration).
- Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Allah will not look at the one who wears his lower garment below his ankles." (Narrated by An-Nisa’i in Al-Mujtaba, Kitab Az-Zinah, Bab Isbal Al-Izar).
- Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) took hold of the muscle of my calf (or his calf) and said, This is where the Izar should stop; if you insist, it may be lower, but it should not reach the ankles." (Narrated by At-Tirmidhi, who said this is an authentic and sound Hadith; see Sunan At-Tirmidhi, 1783)
Isbal and the danger of pride
All of the Hadiths quoted above speak against Isbal , whether or not the intention is to show off; but if a person does this deliberately out of arrogance, there is no doubt that his sin is greater. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Allah will not look at the one who trails his Izar on the ground out of pride." (Narrated by Al-Bukhari, 5788)
Jabir ibn Sulaym (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to me: “Beware of wearing ones lower garment below the ankles, because this is a kind of showing-off, and Allah does not love showing-off." (Classed as authentic by At-Tirmidhi, 2722).
Consequences of Isbal out of arrogance
No one is able to be completely free of pride and arrogance , even if he claims that this is so. Such a claim is unacceptable, because by saying it, he is praising himself. Only in the case of those whom the revelation testified that they were free of pride do we believe that this is the case. For example, there is a Hadith which states that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Whoever trails his garment on the ground out of pride, Allah will not look at him on the Day of Resurrection." Abu Bakr said to him, "O Messenger of Allah, my Izar slips down if I do not pay attention to it." He said: "You are not one of those who do it out of pride." (Narrated by Al-Bukhari, 5784)
What indicates that Isbal is prohibited even if it is not done out of pride is the Hadith of Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: The lower garment of the Muslim should come down to mid-calf, but there is nothing wrong if it is between that point and the ankles. Whatever is lower than the ankles is in the Fire. Whoever trails his garment on the ground out of pride, Allah will not look at him." (Narrated by Abu Dawud, 4093, with an authentic chain of narration)
Severe Punishments Described in Hadith
These Hadiths describe two different deeds, for which there will be two different punishments:
Imam Ahmad reported that `Abd Ar-Rahman ibn Yaqub said: "I asked Abu Sa`id: Did you hear anything from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) concerning the Izar (lower garment)? He said, Yes, listen! The Izar of the believer should come to mid-calf, although there is nothing wrong if it comes between there and the ankles, but whatever is lower than the ankles is in the Fire, and he said it three times."
Ibn `Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I passed by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and my Izar had slipped down. He said, O `Abdullah, pull up your Izar! so I pulled it up. He said, More! so I pulled it up more, and always made sure it was pulled up properly after that." Some people asked, "To where did you pull it up?" He said, "To mid-calf length." (Narrated by Muslim, 2086 and Adh-Dhahabi, Kitab Al-Kaba’ir, 131-132)
Isbal for Women
The issue of Isbal applies to women just as much as it applies to men . This is indicated by the Hadith of Ibn `Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: Whoever trails his garment on the ground out of pride, Allah will not look at him. Umm Salamah said: O Messenger of Allah, what should women do with their hems? He said, Let them go down a handspan. She asked, What if their feet show? He said, Let them lengthen it by a cubit, but no more." (Narrated by An-Nisa’i, Kitab Az-Zinah, Bab Dhuyul An-Nisa’)
Punishment for showing off in the Hereafter
The punishment for showing off may come to pass in this world, not in the Hereafter. Abu Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Whilst a man was walking arrogantly admiring himself and his clothes, Allah caused the earth to swallow him and he is suffering in it until the Day of Resurrection." (Narrated by Muslim, 2088)
And Allah knows best.
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