This ḥadīth, then, indicates that the person who is praying must cover that part of his body which, though not part of the ʿawrah, lies above it—that is, the upper body—provided he is able to do so. The ḥadīth of Ibn ʿUmar and others point to the same ruling, and the apparent wording of the prohibition suggests that failing to do so invalidates the prayer. That sense is reinforced by his ﷺ statement:

“None of you is to pray in a single garment when nothing of it covers his shoulder.”
In another wording: “both of his shoulders,” and in yet another: “his two shoulders—even a part of them.”

The report is related by the Two Shaykhs, Abū Dāwūd, and others, and is cited in Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl, 275, and Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd, 637.

Al-Shawkānī writes in Nayl al-Awṭār, 2/59:

“The majority understand this prohibition as expressing mere dislike. According to Aḥmad, the prayer of one who is able to do so yet omits it is invalid; another report from him holds that the prayer is valid but the worshipper is sinful.”

Ibn Ḥazm, true to his literalist bent, went even further. He says (4/71):

“It is obligatory upon a man—if he prays wearing a loose garment—to place part of it over one or both of his shoulders; if he fails to do so his prayer is null and void. If the garment is tight, he may wrap it around his waist and that suffices, whether or not he possesses another garment.”

I say: He clung to the literal sense of the ḥadīth and did not make wearing a cloak obligatory when one is able, which contradicts both the ḥadīth of Buraydah and the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿUmar; it is as though he never came across them.

Among his peculiarities is that, in this very issue, he cites several early reports in support of his view, yet none of them actually prove it; indeed, one of them flatly contradicts him—namely the statement ascribed to Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafiyyah: “There is no prayer for the one who does not cover his shoulders during the prayer.”

Were this report authentic, it would in fact be evidence against him, because it is left unrestricted and is not limited to the case of praying in a single garment, whereas in