Before Salaah

Before Salaah

1. Particular care should be taken to dress appropriately for salaah. A woman should wear such clothing that will conceal her entire body and hair. It is disrespectful for her to wear tight-fitting clothing that reveals the shape of her body or to wear such thin, flimsy clothing through which the actual limbs can be seen. If the clothing is such that the limbs are visible through the clothing, the salaah will be invalid.See 297
2. Severe warnings have been sounded in the Hadith for those women who do not dress appropriately. Though the warning is general and does not specifically refer to dressing inappropriately during salaah, one would understand that when it is impermissible for a woman to dress in this manner out of salaah, then the impermissibility of her wearing such clothing when standing before Allah Ta’ala in salaah will be even greater. Apart from this, the Fuqahaa have written that the salaah of a woman who is not clad properly during salaah and whose body limbs are visible through her clothing will not be valid.[1]
3. Cover the entire body including the hair. Only the face, palms and feet may be exposed.[2]
4. Prepare well in advance for salaah before the time of salaah enters.See 292
5. Apart from the physical preparation (wudhu, etc.), you should also prepare yourself mentally that you are going to present yourself in the court of your Rabb.See 292
6. Ensure that your body, clothes and the place on which the salaah is being performed are paak and clean.See 296

[1] عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم صنفان من أهل النار لم أرهما قوم معهم سياط كأذناب البقر يضربون بها الناس ونساء كاسيات عاريات مميلات مائلات رؤوسهن كأسنمة البخت المائلة لا يدخلن الجنة ولا يجدن ريحها وإن ريحها ليوجد من مسيرة كذا وكذا (صحيح مسلم، الرقم: 2128)

انظر أيضا 297

[2] (و) الرابع (ستر عورته) … (وللحرة) ولو خنثى (جميع بدنها) حتى شعرها النازل في الأصح (خلا الوجه والكفين والقدمين) (الدر المختار 1/405)