Answered by Ustadha Shaista Maqbool
Question: Wearing Sandals on Hajj
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Kind.
Answer : The upper part of the foot (around the cuneiform bones of the foot,
see: http://encarta.msn.com/media_461566263/Bones_of_the_Foot.html
must be uncovered during ihram. The sandals that you wore have a strap
on top of this very part of the foot, and therefore, yes, there was a
violation in your ihram. Hence, you need to determine what type of
expiation you owe.
The Ruling
If a man* wore something stitched or covered his foot, or head
continuously for the entire day or the entire night, or the equivalent
of either of them, he must make a sacrifice. If he did so for less
than this time, he must give charity. (see: Ibn Abideen, Hashiyah)
[*The rulings of clothing are specific to men as women are exempt from
these considerations; The only exception is in the covering of the
face, in which women are also accountable for.]
Explanation:
-”Continuously” meaning without interruption. Removing the item even
momentarily e.g. for wudu, is considered an interruption.
-The “entire day” here means the Islamic day: from dawn or Fajr prayer
to sunset or the Maghrib prayer; and “night” meaning from
sunset/Maghrib prayer to dawn/Fajr prayer.
-”The equivalent of either of them” meaning if he had worn the item
for an equivalent of either the day or night, he owes a sacrifice. So,
if the day was 10 hours long and the night was 14 hours, one would
have to determine whether or not he was wearing the item for 10 hours
continuously, using the shorter of the two. Therefore, if he put on
the item in the middle of the day or night, rather than at the
beginning, he must calculate the time he was wearing it.
One should note that in most cases the continuity of the wearing is
interrupted, and when there has been an interruption, the timing
starts all over, ie. intervals are not added together. Therefore, in
most cases charity would be obligatory, not sacrifice.
It should also be noted that unlike sacrifice, there isn’t a minimum
period of time for charity, such that one must pay charity even if he
wore any of these items for only a moment. Additionally, he pays
charity for each “wearing” of the item, as long it is less than a
day/night. For example, if he wore the item for 10 hours but would
remove it each hour, he must pay 10 times of the obligatory amount of
charity.
Nevertheless, in the cases where one did wear an item for more than an
entire day or night, the following details should be paid attention
to:
If he wore the item for more than a day or night, he still owes only
one sacrifice, (i.e. he doesn’t owe 2 sacrifices for wearing it for
longer than one day). The latter is also the case even if he removed
the item [after having worn it continuously for a day or night] at
night, for example, with an intention to wear it again during the day.
However, if he removed it with the intention to discontinue wearing
it, and thereafter did wear it again, he must give two sacrifices.
(Hashiyah, Ibn ‘Abideen)
Hence, the intention plays a major role in determining the number of
sacrifices one owes.
A sacrifice is fulfilled by the slaughtering of a sheep, goat or
having a share of a seventh in the sacrifice of a cow or camel. The
slaughter must take place in the sacred territory in Mekkah. When one
is outside Mekkah, he may authorize someone there to do the sacrifice
on his behalf.
For charity, it is obligatory to give approximately 2 kg of wheat for
every violation or its value in money. Charity may be given anywhere
and is not restricted to the sacred territory.
And all praise if for Allah, Lord of the Worlds.