Question:

What do the scholars of shari’ah say regarding a woman who makes intention to pray, but she is not wearing socks and her Jubba (a long outer garment) is only slightly longer than her knees. Her lower shins are slightly uncovered, can she offer prayer in this condition?

Answer:

All perfect praise is for Allah ﷻ, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah ﷻ, and that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is His Messenger.

For a woman to offer her salah with the shins exposed is not permissible because her shins are from the body parts that must be covered (awrah). Covering the awrah is a condition in salah. Leaving the awrah exposed is something which will invalidate the salah.

As for reading salaah with uncovered feet, Imam Shafa’i, Imam Malik and Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal consider the feet of a woman to be included in the awrah, so they must be covered in salah.

As for the Ahnaf, the agreed upon opinion and the of Imam Abu Hanifa is that the feet do not have to be covered. It is mentioned in Nur al-Idah: “Her feet are not awrah, be it the surface or the soles, because of general nature of the necessity”.

To conclude, a woman does not have to wear socks for salah, but if she does cover them she will be showing respect to the other Madhahib. However, the shins of a woman must be covered her salah to be accepted.

And Allah ﷻ knows best.

This Fatwa is written by Dr. Hafiz Muhammad Munir Al-Azhari