The Ruling Concerning Al-Isbal in Clothing

The Noble Scholar Muhammad As-Salih Al-'Uthaimin said: If someone lets his Izar (waist wrap) drop lower than his ankles from vanity or haughtiness, then Allâh Almighty will neither look at him on the Day of judgement, nor speak to him, nor purify him; and for him is a painful punishment. If he does so, but not from haughtiness, then his punishment will be the fire on whatever is below his ankles. This is because the Prophet ﷺ said:
"There are three people that Allah will not speak to on the Day of Judgement, will not look at them, will not purify them; and for them is a painful punishment: one who lets his garment hang below his ankles, the Mannan and the Munffiq who does his business with false oaths."

And because he ﷺ said:
"Whoever drags his garment out of arrogance, Allah will not look at him on the Day of Judgement."

These address one who drags his garment out of arrogance. As for the one whose objective is not arrogance, in Sahih Al-Bukhari it is recorded that Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him reported that the Prophet ﷺ said:
"Whatever is below the ankles is in the fire."

The Prophet ﷺ did not confine this to arrogance, and it is not correct to do so based on Hadith before it because Abu Sa'id Al- Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
"The Izar of the believer is at the middle of his shin, and there is no harm or he said no sin upon someone if it is anywhere between that and the ankles. What is lower than that is in the Fire. And whoever drags his Izar arrogantly, Allah will not look at him on the Day of Judgement".

Because the two actions are different, the punishment for each is different. Whenever the ruling and the reason for that differ, it is not possible to restrict a general ruling, this is because that would lead to a contradiction.

As for those who use Abu Bakr's Hadith to argue the contrary, we say that there is no proof in that because of two reasons:

1. Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, said that one side of his garment would fall down if he didn't constantly hold it up to make sure it didn't. In his case, may Allah be pleased with him, he did not let his garments fall out of arrogance but it would fall even though he was trying to keep it up. We say to those who let their garment hang low, claiming that they do not intend to do so out of arrogance, but still do so on purpose, that by them letting their garments hang below their ankles on purpose even without arrogance, only what is below their ankles will be punished in the Fire. And if they do so out of arrogance, they will be punished with what is worse than that: Allah will not speak to them on the day of Resurrection, nor look at them, nor purify them, and they will receive a painful punishment.

2. The Prophet attested and witnessed to the fact that Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, did not do so from haughtiness. Does any of these people have this commen- dation or witness? Rather the Shaytan has enticed some people to follow texts that are not so clear to them in the Qur'an and Sunnah, thus making an excuse for their actions. Allâh guides whomever he pleases to the straight path, so we ask Allah to guide all of us to it.