Fatwa ID: 07499
Answered by: Alimah Maryam Badshah
Question:
I wanted to ask a question. I know a woman must cover her whole body except her hands and feet for prayer, but most shirts that are sold have sleeves that are almost an inch or 2 shorter than the wrist and show a little bit of the arm. Is that okay to pray in?
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
For salah to be valid it is necessary for a person to cover their ‘awrah. The ‘awrah of a woman is the entire body, excluding the hands, face and feet. It is important to note that in Islam, we consider the arms to be two separate limbs: the wrist until the elbow (forearm) and the elbow until the shoulder (upper arm).123
There are two rulings when it comes to uncovered limbs in salah. The first is when only one limb is uncovered. Your salah is valid so long as the revealed part is less than a quarter of the limb. It becomes invalid if a quarter or more of the limb is revealed for the duration of a pillar of salah.45
The second ruling is regarding when more than one limb is uncovered, as is the case with both of your arms. You need to look at the total area of exposed ‘awrah in comparison to the smallest uncovered limb. If the total area exposed is less than a quarter of the smallest limb, then your salah remains valid, otherwise, the salah is invalid.6
In your case, if two inches are exposed from each of your arms it would be a total of four inches on one forearm. This would be over a quarter thus invalidating your salah. A suggestion would be to either wear something like Islamic arm covers/sleeve extenders, or long-sleeved gloves, or even sew on extra fabric to your short sleeves. Otherwise, wearing a long enough burka where your arms will not be revealed in salah may be a better solution for you.7
Only Allah (عز و جل) knows best.
Written by Alimah Maryam Badshah
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
References:
(1)
سَتْرُ الْعَوْرَةِ شَرْطٌ لِصِحَّةِ الصَّلَاةِ إذَا قُدِرَ عَلَيْهِ.
Al-Fatāwa al-Hindiyyah (Vol.1, pg.58, Dār Al-Fiqr)
(2)
بَدَنُ الْحُرَّةِ عَوْرَةٌ إلَّا وَجْهَهَا وَكَفَّيْهَا وَقَدَمَيْهَا.
Al-Fatāwa al-Hindiyyah (Vol.1, pg.58, Dār Al-Fiqr)
(3)
… وَالْعَضُدَانِ مَعَ الْمِرْفَقَيْنِ، وَالذِّرَاعَانِ مَعَ الرُّسْغَيْنِ …
Raddul Muhtār (Vol.1, pg.409, Dār Al-Fiqr)
(4)
… الرُّبْعُ وَمَا فَوْقَهُ كَثِيرٌ وَمَا دُونَ الرُّبْعِ قَلِيلٌ وَهُوَ الصَّحِيحُ.
Al-Fatāwa al-Hindiyyah (Vol.1, pg.58, Dār Al-Fiqr)
(قَوْلُهُ بِالْأَجْزَاءِ) الْمُرَادُ بِهَا الْكُسُورُ الْمُصْطَلَحُ عَلَيْهَا فِي الْحِسَابِ وَهِيَ النِّصْفُ وَالرُّبْعُ وَالثُّلُثُ إلَخْ. مِثَالُهُ انْكَشَفَ ثُمُنُ فَخِذِهِ مِنْ مَوْضِعٍ وَثُمُنُ ذَلِكَ الْفَخِذِ مِنْ مَوْضِعٍ آخَرَ يُجْمَعُ الثُّمُنُ إلَى الثُّمُنِ حِسَابًا فَيَكُونُ رُبْعًا فَيَمْنَعُ، وَلَوْ انْكَشَفَ ثُمُنٌ مِنْ مَوْضِعٍ مِنْ فَخِذِهِ وَنِصْفُ ثُمُنِ ذَلِكَ الْفَخِذِ مِنْ مَوْضِعٍ آخَرَ لَا يَمْنَعُ
Raddul Muhtār (Vol.1, pg.409, Dār Al-Fiqr)
(5)
وكشف ربع عضو من أعضاء العورة … يمنع صحة الصلاة إن استمر مقدار أداء ركن وإلا لا.
Al-Lubāb Fi Sharh al-Kitāb (Vol.1, pg.62, Al-Maktaba Al-’Ilmiyyah)
وَإِنْ انْكَشَفَتْ عَوْرَتُهُ فِي الصَّلَاةِ فَسَتَرَهَا بِلَا مُكْثٍ جَازَتْ صَلَاتُهُ إجْمَاعًا وَإِنْ أَدَّى رُكْنًا مَعَ الِانْكِشَافِ فَسَدَتْ إجْمَاعًا وَإِنْ لَمْ يُؤَدِّهِ لَكِنْ مَكَثَ قَدْرَ مَا يُمْكِنُ الْأَدَاءُ تَفْسُدُ
Al-Fatāwa al-Hindiyyah (Vol.1, pg.58, Dār Al-Fiqr)
(6)
انْكِشَافُ مَا دُونَ الرُّبْعِ مَعْفُوٌّ إذَا كَانَ فِي عُضْوٍ وَاحِدٍ وَإِنْ كَانَ فِي عُضْوَيْنِ أَوْ أَكْثَرَ وَجُمِعَ وَبَلَغَ رُبْعَ أَدْنَى عُضْوٍ مِنْهَا يَمْنَعُ جَوَازَ الصَّلَاةِ … لَا يُعْتَبَرُ الْجَمْعُ بِالْأَجْزَاءِ كَالْأَسْدَاسِ وَالْأَتْسَاعِ بَلْ بِالْقَدْرِ حَتَّى لَوْ انْكَشَفَ مِنْ الْأُذُنِ تُسْعُهَا وَمِنْ السَّاقِ تُسْعُهَا يُمْنَعُ؛ لِأَنَّ الْمَكْشُوفَ قَدْرُ رُبْعِ الْأُذُنِ
Al-Fatāwa al-Hindiyyah (Vol.1, pg.58, Dār Al-Fiqr)
(قَوْلُهُ وَإِلَّا فَبِالْقَدْرِ) أَيْ الْمِسَاحَةِ، فَإِنْ بَلَغَ الْمَجْمُوعُ بِالْمِسَاحَةِ رُبْعَ أَدْنَاهَا: أَيْ أَدْنَى الْأَعْضَاءِ الْمُنْكَشِفِ بَعْضُهَا، كَمَا لَوْ انْكَشَفَ نِصْفُ ثُمُنِ الْفَخِذِ وَنِصْفُ ثُمُنِ الْأُذُنِ مِنْ الْمَرْأَةِ فَإِنَّ مَجْمُوعَهُمَا بِالْمِسَاحَةِ أَكْثَرُ مِنْ رُبْعِ الْأُذُنِ الَّتِي هِيَ أَدْنَى الْعُضْوَيْنِ …
Raddul Muhtār (Vol.1, pg.409, Dār Al-Fiqr)
(7)
وَأَمَّا الْمَرْأَةُ فَالْمُسْتَحَبُّ لَهَا أَنْ تُصَلِّيَ فِي ثَلَاثَةِ أَثْوَابٍ أَيْضًا قَمِيصٍ وَإِزَارٍ وَمِقْنَعَةٍ فَإِنْ صَلَّتْ فِي ثَوْبَيْنِ جَازَتْ صَلَاتُهَا … وَإِنْ صَلَّتْ فِي ثَوْبٍ وَاحِدٍ مُتَوَشِّحَةً بِهِ لَا يَجُوزُ إلَّا إذَا سَتَرَتْ بِهِ رَأْسَهَا وَجَمِيعَ جَسَدِهَا
Al-Fatāwa al-Hindiyyah (Vol.1, pg.59, Dār Al-Fiqr)
