The ruling on letting garments hang below the ankles out of custom, not conceit

Answer

It is established that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Whatever of the izār [lower garment] is below the ankles is in the Fire.” Imām al-Bukhārī narrated it in his Ṣaḥīḥ. He also said, ʿalayhi al-ṣalātu wa-l-salām: “There are three to whom Allah will not speak on the Day of Resurrection, at whom He will not look, and whom He will not purify, and theirs is a painful punishment: the one who lets his izār hang down, the one who reminds people of what he has given, and the one who sells his goods with false oaths.” Imām Muslim narrated it in his Ṣaḥīḥ. There are many ḥadīths with this meaning, and they show that isbāl [letting the garment hang below the ankles] is forbidden without qualification, even if the one who does it claims that he did not intend arrogance and conceit. That is because it is a means to arrogance, and because it involves extravagance and exposes clothes to impurities and dirt.

If, however, he does intend arrogance by it, the matter is more serious and the sin greater, because the Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever drags his garment out of conceit, Allah will not look at him on the Day of Resurrection.” The limit in this is the ankles, so it is not permissible for a Muslim man to let his clothing come down below the ankles, because of the ḥadīths mentioned.

For a woman, it is prescribed that her clothing be ample, covering her feet.

As for what is established from al-Ṣiddīq raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu, that he said to the Prophet ﷺ, “My izār slips down unless I keep watch over it,” and the Prophet ﷺ replied, “You are not one of those who do it out of conceit”: what is meant is that whoever’s izār slips down unintentionally, while he keeps watch over it and takes care to raise it, does not fall under the threat. He did not do it deliberately, he did not intend conceit, and he did not leave it that way; rather, he kept watch over it, raising it and gathering it up.

This is unlike someone who lets it hang down deliberately. He is suspected of intending conceit, and his action is a means to it; Allah, Glory be to Him, is the One who knows what is in the hearts. The Prophet ﷺ stated the ḥadīths warning against isbāl without qualification and was severe about it, and nowhere in them did he say, “except whoever lets it down without conceit.”

The Muslim must therefore beware of what Allah has forbidden him, keep away from whatever brings on Allah’s anger, and stop at the limits of Allah, hoping for His reward and fearing His punishment. He does so in obedience to the words of Allah, Glory be to Him and Exalted is He: ﴿وَمَا آتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانْتَهُوا وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ﴾ "Whatever the Messenger gives you, take it, and whatever he forbids you, refrain from it, and fear Allah; indeed, Allah is severe in punishment" [al-Ḥashr: 7], and to His words, Mighty and Majestic: ﴿تِلْكَ حُدُودُ اللَّهِ وَمَنْ يُطِعِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ يُدْخِلْهُ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا وَذَلِكَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ ۝﴾وَمَنْ يَعْصِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَيَتَعَدَّ حُدُودَهُ يُدْخِلْهُ نَارًا خَالِدًا فِيهَا وَلَهُ عَذَابٌ مُهِينٌ "These are the limits of Allah. Whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, He will admit him to gardens beneath which rivers flow, to abide therein forever; that is the great success. Whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger and transgresses His limits, He will admit him to a Fire, to abide therein forever, and for him is a humiliating punishment" [al-Nisāʾ: 13 - 14]. May Allah grant the Muslims success in all that pleases Him and in setting right their affairs in their religion and their worldly life; He is the best of those who are asked¹.