English

Women showing their feet

source: silsilat ul-hudā wa nnūr ~ the series of guidance and light ~ tape no. 697

Question #3: “Is it allowed for the woman to pray with her feet uncovered?”
Shaykh al-Albānī answers:
“It is not permissible for her to pray with the feet uncovered, and it is not even allowed for her to walk in the streets with the feet uncovered, because the feet are part of the ʽawrah[1] of a woman by the text of Allāh’s saying: ‘And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment.’[2] The woman during jāhiliyyah[3] used to put on what is known in the Arabic language as khalkhāl (anklet), meaning an ornamental band having small bells. So when the woman walked, she – in order for the eyes of the men and young men to turn toward her – would strike on the ground with her feet so that the anklet would make a noise, then the men would hear that; and this is due to the whisperings of shaytān to her.
The meaning of this is that the feet are (to be) covered. By what? By the jilbāb that women were commanded to place over their heads, according to the saying of Allāh, the Mighty and Majestic: ‘O Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (veils) all over their bodies.’[4] And it has been mentioned in the authentic hadīth that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said one day during a gathering in which there were also women: ‘Whoever drags his garment out of pride, Allāh will not look at him on the Day of Resurrection.’ One of the women said: ‘O Messenger of Allāh, then our feet will be exposed.’[5] He (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said that (the women) make (the garment) long by a hand-span. She said: ‘Then, a wind will come and uncover (their feet).’[6] He (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said that they increase (it) by another hand-span, i.e., a forearm-span, and they don’t go beyond it.[7]
Thus, at the time of the revelation of the previously mentioned āyah – ‘to draw their cloaks (veils) all over their bodies’ – the jilbāb of the Muslim woman used to cover the feet, when there weren’t the socks that are widespread now among both women and men; they were not widespread during that time. The woman used to cover her shins and feet with the long jilbāb that resembles the ʽabā’a. Therefore, it is not permissible for the Muslim woman to uncover her feet while she is on the road; it is with greater reason not permissible for her to pray while her feet are uncovered.”
 
~ asaheeha translations ~

[1] something private that should be covered
[2] Sūrat un-Nūr, 24:31
[3] the pre-Islamic days of ignorance
[4] Sūrat ul-Ahzāb, 33:59
[5] the original wording mentioned in the narration is: “So how will the women make the bottom of their garments?”
[6] the original wording mentioned in the narration is: “Then their feet will be exposed”
[7] Sahīh at-Tirmidhī #1731