Q: A friend asked the following question to me and not knowing the answer I decided to write to Mufti Saheb:
The Ahaadith mention that Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) liked and wore a Qamees. And this translates as shirt in English. So, how then do we restrict it to the long thawb or slit kurta? Is this proven from any Hadith?
A: The Qamees mentioned in the Hadith is similar to the kurta that is worn today. Just as the izaar (lungi) that is mentioned in the hadith refers to the izaar that reaches half the shin, so if in today’s times people begin wearing the izaar till above the knee, this will not be regarded as the sunnah izaar (i.e. the one that was worn in the time of Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam)). Hence the sunnah qamees that was worn in the time of Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) also reached half the shin, and not the qamees (shirt) that is worn today.
And Allah Ta’ala knows best.
Answered by: Mufti Zakaria Makada
Checked & Approved: Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)