Question: Can a woman pray without covering her feet or without wearing socks?
(I read that Imam Muzani r.a. didn’t consider the feet to be from the awrah)
All relevent details (i.e. the official position of the school, if there are other valid positions, etc.) would be much appreciated.
Answer:
The woman’s nakedness -’Awrah – (when she is a free woman) is all of her body besides her face and hands till the wrists. (Sharh al-Muhadhdhab 2/121; Rawdat al-Talibin 1/389) The Shafi’is of Khurasan related an opinion from Imam Shafi’i that the inner portions of her feet are not nakedness. And, some of them transmit it as a view from the As-hab. (Sharh al-Muhadhdhab 2/121) As well, Imam Muzani opined that her feet are not nakedness. (Sharh al-Muhadhdhab 2/121; Rawdat al-Talibin 1/389) However, a woman’s feet are nakedness in the prayer and outside of the prayer according to the relied upon view of the Madhhab. It is necessary that she cover them accordingly.
Regarding Imam Muzani’s independent opinion he considered that the outer portions of the feet are analogous to the outer portions of the hands because they are exposed customarily. Therefore, covering them would not be necessary similar to the face and hands. (Kifayat al-Nabih 2/463) Sh. Ahmad b. Alawi al-Saqqaf mentioned in his book Mukhtasar al-Fawaid al-Makkiyyah the permissibility of acting upon the opinions of some of the scholars, like Muzani, Suyuti, Subki, Ibn al-Mundhir, etc.
Allah knows best.
Shafiifiqh.com Fatwa Dept.