Is the Prayer of a Woman Praying in Leggings Valid?

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: As salam Alaykum,

Is the prayer of a woman praying in a long coat up to her knees and really tight ‘leggings’ not revealing her skin Valid?

Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

I pray that this message finds you well, insha’Allah.

Prayer in the manner described would be valid, yet prohibitively disliked (makruh tahriman) because the wisdom in covering the nakedness is due to its being reprehensible to manifest- and tight clothing is not complete covering.

The basis is that the prayer is to be performed in loose, covering clothing, and this also applies outside the prayer itself.

[Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah, with Tahtawi’s Gloss (hashiya) quoting from Halabi Kabir; Ibn `Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar `ala al-Durr al-Mukhtar]

For further discussions, please see: Covering the Nakedness for a Man: Answers and: Tight or Revealing Clothing on Men and Women and: Should We Wear Special Clothes for Prayer (Hanafi)?

And Allah alone knows best.

في حاشية الطحطاوي: ولا يضر تشكل العورة بالتصاق الساتر الضيق بها كما في الحلبي اهـ.
وفي ردّ المحتار: قوله: (ولا يضر التصاقه) أي بالالية مثلا، وقوله وتشكله من عطف المسيب على السبب وعبارة شرح المنية: أما لو كان غليظا لا يرى منه لون البشرة إلا أنه التصق بالعضو وتشكل بشكله فصار شكل العضو مرئيا فينبغي أن لا يمنع جواز الصلاة لحصول الستر اهـ.

wassalam,
Tabraze Azam

Checked & Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani