Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Is it permissible to pray at school in a library on carpet upon which people walk with shoes if it is dry and there are no apparent traces of impurity? If so, would it be allowed to pray with shoes on at such a place if the shoes are clean and do not hinder correct posture, inshaAllah? Are shoe soles purified through rubbing?
An important explanation of the principle that
Wa `alaykum as-Salam
Yes it is permissible to pray on a carpet if there is no known impurity on it.
There is a basic principle of sacred law (qa`ida fiqhiyya) that all people prone to misgivings in their worship should keep in mind, namely that certainty is not lifted by a doubt. [Ibn Nujaym, al-Ashbah wa’l Nadha’ir, and Majallat al-Ahkam al-`Adiliyya]
This means that if one is certain about something, such as the purity of the carpet, with purity being the basic assumption for all things, then we will keep assuming it pure until certain that it has become impure. Mere possibilities and likelihoods do not change this.
The important fiqh principles related to this matter include:
- Certainty is not lifted by doubt;
- Certainty is only lifted by another certainty;
- The default assumption about a matter is akin to certainty;
- The default assumption about all matters is purity;
- Mere doubts and suppositions are of no legal consequences.
A related point of advice is that when in doubt, one should not make up legal rulings. Rather, one should seek reliable knowledge, either from a reliable book one is able to understand or from persons of sound traditional learning.
Praying with shoes on
Praying with shoes is also acceptable if they are pure, which is the assumption, unless they are known to be otherwise. As for whether the shoes have to be flexible so as to enable correct posture, this is certainly preferable but not necessarily a condition for validity. Pointing one’s toes towards the Qibla is an emphasized sunna of the prayer [Tahtawi on Maraqi al-Falah, 1:365] whereas for validity it is sufficient to have any part of the toes touching the ground (Nur al-Idah, 1:320).
The soles of shoes and footgear are purified by rubbing if from an impurity that has a body, either intrinsic or acquired. So if they have impurities such as blood or feces which have a body, then these can be easily removed by simply rubbing until the trace is removed.
And Allah knows best
Sohail Hanif & Faraz Rabbani.