Praying behind an Imaam who is wearing tight clothes

22-4-2009 | IslamWeb

Question:

assalaaamu aleykum brothers in islam my question is that is it allowed in islam to make congregational salah with imaam which his clothe is tight and his internal body is visible. please b/c i am confused i am just student.jazakaallahu keyral jazaa

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

 

An Imaam and every Muslim should have a good appearance and be properly adorned when performing the prayer as Allaah Says (what means): {O children of Aadam, take your adornment [i.e. wear your clothing] at every Masjid.}[Quran 7:31] As regards performing the prayer in tight clothes, then this is contrary to being properly adorned. Therefore, if these clothes are transparent in a way that it shows the colour of the skin, then the prayer in it is void because the body is not properly covered with it. However, if it does not show the colour of the skin, but it just shows the shape of the bones [limbs], as it is the case when wearing western trousers that are worn by men nowadays, then praying with it is permissible or disliked but we do not know any scholar who is of the view that the prayer in trousers is void, except some odd views of some scholars.

Therefore, you should know that it is permissible for a person who wears tight clothes to lead the prayer and the prayer behind him is permissible, but it is more appropriate for a person who is properly dressed to lead the prayer just in order to avoid the difference of opinion.

For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 86622.

Allaah Knows best.