Importance of removing shoes during prayers

[Ruhi_Rose]

As-salam Alaykum everyone.   Is our tradition of removing our shoes while we offer our salaat and also when we enter the mosques a Quranic commandment?  Can anyone please throw some light on this practice?  

[Zainab_M]

Walaikum Salaam.  Very good question, sis.  Yes, we can say that it's a Quranic commandment.  It may not be a direct commandment, in that, Allah does not say in so many words that we must remove our shoes while praying.  Yet, upon simple reading and analysis, it's equivalent to a direct commandment.

If you read Surah Ta Ha (Surah 20 of the Glorious Quran), Allah narrates a particular incident in Prophet Moses' (pbuh) life.  Moses was travelling on foot with his people (probably with his family; and this incident takes place before the Exodus) when he saw something that looked like a bright fire in the distance.  He told his folks to wait and went close to it.  When he came close, he discovered that this was the Light of Allah Almighty.  And this is when Allah ordered Moses to go to Pharoah with the Divine Message. 

When Moses came close to what he thought was a bright fire in the distance, Allah called out to him saying:

"And when he reached it, he was called by name: O Moses!
Lo! I, even I, am thy Lord, So take off thy shoes, for lo! thou art in the holy valley of Tuwa."  20:11-12

Thus, the above verses clearly indicate that when a person is in the presence of Allah, or communicating with Allah or is in a sacred place, it's essential to remove the shoes and be barefoot as a gesture of humility and respect toward Allah. 

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Yes, Subhan'Allah, very good question and very good answer.  This is exactly the reason why we must know that it's essential to remove our shoes or sandals while we pray or enter the masjid. 

In this connection, let me mention, the Hadith concept is very different.  As usual, the Hadith completely ignores this verse of Surah Ta Ha, and much to my surprise, the Hadith allows people to pray with shoes based on its own tales.  Indeed, we are sure that the Prophet (SAW) never prayed with his shoes nor did he encourage others, but the Hadith writers obviously found it more convenient quite often to keep their shoes on, so they began writing their stories to permit and propagate this practice.

Let's start by quoting the "man of the day," Mr. Bukhari.

According to a Bukhari Hadith, Anas ibn Maalik was asked, “Did the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) pray wearing shoes?” He said, “Yes.” (al-Bukhaari, 386; Muslim, 555). This is to be understood as meaning, so long as there is no impurity on the shoes; if there is any impurity on them then it is not permissible to pray in them.   Now tell me folks, can shoes ever be completely free from impurities?   "Impurity" doesn't only refer to crap or urine.  Impurity can be of many different types. 

Then, the imams go on to say that if there is any impurity on the shoes then it is not permissible to pray in them. If a person forgets and prays wearing shoes when there is some impurity on them, then he has to take them off when he finds out or remembers.  This explanation was jotted down to support another fictional Hadith of the Abu Dawood collection declared "sahih" by a "scholar" named Albani.  The narrator of this Hadith is supposed to be  Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri who said: “While the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was leading his companions in prayer, he took off his shoes and placed them to his left. When the people saw that, they took off their shoes too. When the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) finished his prayer, he asked, ‘What made you take off your shoes?’ They said, ‘We saw you take off your shoes, so we took ours off too.’ The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, ‘Jibreel (peace be upon him) came to me and told me that there was something dirty on them.’ When any one of you comes to the mosque, let him look and if he sees anything dirty on his shoes, let him wipe them and then pray in them.” (Abu Dawood, 650; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood, 605).   I would regard this as nothing but an Abu Dawood fiction. 

The imams and "scholars" have still not drawn a line on their gossips.  They have come up with yet another version why the Prophet (SAW) allowed offering prayers with shoes.   They claim that one of the reasons why the Prophet (SAW) prayed wearing shoes was to be different from the Jews.  This was said to support yet another Abu Dawood Hadith which writes “Be different from the Jews, who do not pray in their shoes or in their leather slippers (khufoof).” (Abu Dawood, 652; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood, 607). That is regarded as mustahabb for the purpose of differing from non-Muslims, as stated above.   Can you imagine?  Would the Prophet (SAW) ever make a decision violating the principles of the Quran only for the purpose of being stubbornly different from someone?   Not to mention their contradiction.  These same Hadith writers who claim that the Prophet said about being different from the Jews, also claim quite the opposite in another Hadith regarding fasting during the 9th and 10th of Muharram.  Their lie about this is that when the Prophet came to Medinah, he saw the Jews fasting on 9th and 10th of Muharram, so he asked why.  When he was told that the Jews fast on these 2 days on observe the anniversary of the Exodus, the Prophet said that he was more entitled to follow the practices of Moses and he began fasting on these two days.  Thus, according to this falsehood, these Hadith writer thieves are accusing the Prophet of copying the Jews.  But concerning the matter of praying with shoes, they claim that the Prophet wanted to look different from the Jews.   I tell you folks, Bukhari and Abu Dawood were badly in need to psychiatric help!   Also be aware that 9th and 10th Muharram are not the anniversary of the Exodus.  There's absolutely no historical evidence for it.   For complete information on this topic, check sister Zeynab's post "Did the Prophet (SAAW) fast on 10th Muharram?"   It's a brilliant post. 

Since many of the modern masjids at present are wall-to-wall carpeted, the modern "scholars" got thrown in a fix with all these unauthentic Hadiths.  Obviously the carpets would get dusty and messy if congregational prayers were offered with people coming with their shoes and not removing them.  Therefore, Shaikh Abdullah bin Humayd, jumped in with a modern fatwa.

Here it goes ....

"However if the mosque is furnished with carpeting, then the mosque should be kept clean of shoes, and no one should enter wearing shoes lest the place be made dirty." (Fataawa Samaahat al-Shaykh ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Humayd, p. 81).

There's another guy, a modern scholar who died in 1999,  called Nasiruddin al-Albani .  He lied in his book of errors that the Prophet (SAW) used to encourage people to pray with shoes. 

The arrogance of our "scholars" goes to such a shameful limit that they claim if the opinion of a single scholar on any issue is different from the rest or departs from ijma, then even if that opinion is compatible with the Quran, it constitutes shudhudh or 'dissent and deviation' and thus it can be rejected.  In other words, our "scholars" and "ulemas" are comfortably & shamelessly indulging in blasphemy by saying that even if the majority of scholars are wrong, their opinion must be upheld against a single opinion which is correct and conforms with the Noble Quran. 

Any wonder why this Ummah has gone down the drain with the wrath of Allah upon it?  May Allah punish such kufaar who claim to be believers with titles of and "scholars" and imams.

Finally, let's not forget, this habit of not removing shoes during salaat is a very popular Salafi practice.  They are quite commonly trying to propagate this custom of praying with shoes and also entering carpeted rooms with shoes.  Apart from their systematic act of distorting Islam,  another big problem with these Salafis is that they are not great lovers of cleanliness.  Many of them aren't particular about taking a bath daily.  Some, even if they do bathe daily, do not wear fresh clothes after a bath.  Instead they put on those same stinky smelly clothes they wore prior to taking a shower.  I'm already feeling like vomiting!   Once a brother friend of my husband was telling him that at his workplace he frequently comes into contact with salafi tablighi brothers who do dawah work, and what scares him about them is their body ordour.  He said that the moment you stand close to them, it's clear that they shower infrequently and do their laundry very seldom .. even though they are financially well off.  So, no excuses about not being able to afford to keep clean.   It's just a habit to stay dirty which has been further encouraged by Hadith. 

[Zainab_M]

"man of the day"      priceless!!

MaashAllah, sister Heba, u have explained the Hadith versions very articulately.  I'm sure it's now simple enough for anyone to understand how the Hadith has ignored and deviated from the Quran in this issue, as it does in almost all issues, by hurling lies against our most beloved Prophet (SAAW).

It was pleasure to read your post.

[Ruhi_Rose]

Sisters Zeinab and Heba .... fantastic feedback.  Thank u my dear.  This is a very good example of deducing correct conclusions from Quranic contents for practical life.   Moreover, I never knew these Hadith details on favoring the practice of offering salat with shoes.  It seems that though the Shariah books have retained these unworthy Ahadith as "sahih,"  they don't really accept them because I don't know of any masjid where they allow you to go into the prayer section with shoes. 

Btw,, sister Zeynab, the event of Prophet Moses' life you mentioned above by quoting Verse 20:11-12, is this the same event when Moses requested Allah to show Himself to him (Moses)?    You recall that verse in the Noble Quran where Allah mentions that when He showed His Light to Moses, Moses fell down unconscious?   That's the incident I'm referring to.  Did this happen on the same occasion as Verse 20:11-12?

[Zainab_M]

You are welcomed dear sis Rose.    And no, the event you are referring to did not happen on the same occasion as Verse 20:11-12.    It was at a different time, much later.   That happened during / after the Exodus when Moses left his people with his brother Haroon (Aaron) and went into seclusion to communicate with Allah and receive the Torah.   That's when Moses requested Allah to show His Glory, and when Allah accepted Moses' request and revealed His Light (perhaps just for a second or so), the mountain over which the Light of Allah was revealed crashed down and Moses became so overwhelmed that he fell down on the ground and collapsed.   Alhumdulilah, Alhumdulilah.
 
Check the following Verses of Surah Al-Araf for reference:
 
"And when We did appoint for Moses thirty nights (of solitude), and added to them ten, and he completed the whole time appointed by his Lord of forty nights; and Moses said unto his brother, Aaron: Take my place among the people. Do right, and follow not the way of mischief-makers.   
 
And when Moses came to Our appointed tryst and his Lord had spoken unto him, he said: My Lord! Show me (Thy Self), that I may gaze upon Thee. He said: Thou wilt not see Me, but gaze upon the mountain! If it stand still in its place, then thou wilt see Me. And when his Lord revealed (His) glory to the mountain He sent it crashing down. And Moses fell down senseless. And when he woke he said: Glory unto Thee! I turn unto Thee repentant, and I am the first of (true) believers. "  (7:142-143)

[N. Truth Seeker]

Thank u too sisters Heba and Zeynab.  You've really elucidated this topic in the finest way.  Indeed I have learned much from this thread, as I have from so many out here.  I haven't just learned from the answers, but I've also learned from sister Rose's intelligent questions.   It's now clear to me that Prophet Moses spoke to Allah and saw Allah on different occasions. 

I tell you folks, Bukhari and Abu Dawood were badly in need to psychiatric help!  

 

 

[Ruhi_Rose]

Thanks for responding to my query sister Zeynab.  Yes, now it's clear to me too.  I'm glad it helped u as well, br. PT      Actually it's quite easy to remember these 2 events from Surah Ta Ha and Surah Al-Araf.  I don't know how I became a bit forgetful.  Thanks again sis.