What Is the Ruling regarding a Man Praying without a Shirt?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch
Question
What is the ruling regarding a man praying without a shirt?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
It is prohibitively disliked for a man to pray without a shirt unless due to an excuse.
Amongst that which is disliked is for a man to pray while only wearing pants while having the ability to wear a shirt. This is due to what such an action entails of belittlement, laziness, and a lack of manners.” [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]
Three Types of Clothing in Prayer
In summary, wearing clothing in the prayer can be broken down into three types:
- Recommended clothing;
- Permissible clothing without dislike,
- Disliked clothing. [Kasani, Bada’i al-Sana’i]
Recommended Clothing
It is recommended for a man to pray in two garments: A lower garment and an upper garment. By this, one covers their nakedness and has the appropriate adornment for the prayer. This is the opinion of Imam Muhammad.
Imam al-Hinduwani adds a cloak and a turban to the recommended amount of clothing. [Ibid.]
Permissible Clothing Without Dislike
It is permissible without dislike for a man to pray in one large garment covering their entire body or in a large upper garment covering the neck down to below the knees.
This is because, by this, they cover their nakedness and achieve a basic level of the appropriate adorning for the prayer. [Ibid.]
Disliked Clothing
It is disliked for a man to pray in one lower garment or only wearing pants. This is because, even though one’s nakedness is covered, the appropriate adornment for the prayer is missing. [Ibid.]
Propriety
Reflect on the fact that the one praying is standing before Allah Most High, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth.
Such a person would be shy to stand before a judge or a respected person without proper clothing. Should they not be more ashamed of standing in front of the Creator of All Things in such a way?!
Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Yusuf Weltch teaches Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom Seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences.
He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he studied for three years in Dar al-Mustafa under some of the most outstanding scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib.
In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Quran and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.
