1261 – ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “None of you should walk wearing only one sandal; either put them both on or take them both off.” Agreed upon. (1)

Lexical Note
• “let him put them both on” (liyunʿilahumā): al-Nawawī vocalised the verb with ḍamma on the imperfect prefix; it derives from the root inʿāl (“to put on footwear”). The dual pronoun refers to the two feet, even though they were not explicitly mentioned.

Points Derived from the ḥadith

1. Islam is perfect and calls to perfection; it is beautiful and loves beauty. Walking in a single sandal or a single leather sock is a deformity, draws attention, and clashes with accepted custom. Hence the Prophet forbade it: a person should either shoe both feet or go barefoot. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, at times wore sandals and at times walked barefoot.

2. The basic presumption for a prohibition is that it denotes impermissibility, yet the majority of scholars understand this particular prohibition as indicating reprehensibility rather than outright prohibition. Al-Tirmidhī (1777) narrates from ʿĀʾishah that “the thong of the Prophet’s sandal would sometimes snap, so he walked in the other sandal until it was repaired.” Al-Furūʿ states that walking in a single sandal without need is disliked, and Imām Aḥmad affirmed this even for a short distance.

3. Al-Khaṭṭābī explained the wisdom behind the prohibition: sandals were instituted to protect the foot from thorns and similar hazards on the ground. If only one foot is covered, the walker must take precautions for the bare foot that he does not take for the shod one, thereby disrupting his natural gait.