Praying while wearing sports clothes in front of mirrors

26/12/2011| IslamWeb

Question

Salam, My question is about Salah(nimaz) wether we can pray in front of mirror or not? actully there are praying wtih jumat in one GYM wheter there is mirror all round but i dont know how is praying here where all are praying in sports dresses in front of big mirror. wa salam

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

Praying in front of a mirror is valid and sufficient but it can be included among the things that are disliked during the prayer as it leads to looking at what distracts oneself from the prayer. The jurists gave evidence for the dislikability of looking to what distracts from the prayer the narration by ‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, that the Prophet prayed on a Khameesah (a garment with marks - lines and so forth - on it), then he looked to these marks once, and when he finished prayer he said: "Take my garment to Abu Jahm as it diverted my attention from my prayer and bring to me the Anbijaaniyyat (a woolen garment without marks) of Abu Jahm." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] [This is Al-Bukhari’s wording]

On the other hand, it is permissible to offer the prayer while being dressed with any clothes that cover the ‘Awrah and that are lawful to wear, and the prayer in these clothes is valid. Hence, if the sports clothes cover the ‘Awrah (parts of the body that must be covered in Islam), then the prayer in it is valid.

However, a Muslim is ordered to beautify himself at every prayer; Allah Says (what means): {O children of Adam, take your adornment [i.e. wear your clothing] at every Masjid.} [Quran 7:31] Ibn Katheer said: “This verse and what has been narrated in the Sunnah with the same meaning, means that it is desirable to beautify oneself when willing to perform the prayer.”

No doubt, if a person is invited to meet one of the kings of this world, he would probably be shy to meet him in sportswear. Indeed, it is more appropriate to be shy of Allah and be appropriately dressed when standing before Him in the prayer.

 Allah Knows best.

Fatwa answered by: The Fatwa Center at Islamweb