His words, “He is not to be laid down,” mean that, when we strike the man, we do not lay him upon the ground. If we were to lay him upon the ground, each blow would become two blows: the whip would strike him, and then the ground would also strike against him.

His words, “or tied up”: the reason is the same. If you tie him to a pillar or a piece of wood, each blow will amount to two blows.

They also mentioned a report from Ibn Mas‘ud, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: “In our religion, there is no laying down, binding, or stripping.” (1)

His words, “or stripped,” mean that his clothes are not to be removed—neither his waist-wrapper nor his upper garment. Rather, his clothes are to remain on him, unless he has put on something that prevents the blows from reaching him; in that case, whatever prevents them must be removed. Thus, if he has put on fur, leather, plastic, or something similar, we do not allow him to keep it on.

A female slave was once brought before Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, to be flogged as a prescribed punishment. He ordered that she be stripped, and it was found that she was wearing an iron coat of mail so that the blows would not affect her. Therefore, if we know that a person is wearing something that obstructs the blows, we must remove it; and it is not permissible to show favoritism to anyone in this regard.

His words, “Rather, he should have one shirt or two shirts upon him”: the word “or” here indicates variety. That is, whatever he is wearing may be left on him if it consists of one shirt or two; but if he is wearing three, then apparently we remove the third. If there is cold weather, we consider whether he is