Al-Ṭaḥāwī recorded it in al-Mushkil, as did Ibn Mājah, al-Dāraqutnī, and Aḥmad, through the route of Ibn Jurayj, who said: “ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abī Maḥdhūrah informed me that ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥayriz conveyed it to him.” All of them transmitted the report at full length, and so did al-Nasāʾī, except that his version omits the very sentence that serves as our proof. Its complete wording has already been cited under the fourth discussion of the adhān. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz is an acceptable narrator.

(Note: The Shaykh—may Allah have mercy on him—later withdrew the view he had adopted concerning the ʿawrah; see, for example, Tamām al-Minna.)

3 – Nevertheless, in the prayer a person should wear more than what merely covers the ʿawrah (the private parts), in light of the general import of the Almighty’s words: “Take your adornment at every place of worship” (Q 7:31).

Shaykh al-Islām states in al-Ikhtiyārāt (4/24):

“Allah, exalted is He, has commanded something beyond the bare covering of the ʿawrah in prayer when He said, ‘Take your adornment at every place of worship.’ He linked the command to ‘adornment,’ not to ‘covering the ʿawrah,’ to indicate that the servant ought to don his finest and most beautiful garments for the prayer.”

His disciple, the ḥāfiẓ Ibn Kathīr, comments on the same verse:

“Because of this verse, and the corresponding Sunnah texts, it is recommended to beautify oneself for prayer—especially on Friday, on the two ʿĪds, to apply fragrance, for it is part of adornment, and to use the toothstick, for it perfects that adornment. Among the best garments is white.” He then cited the ḥadīth that commands wearing white garments, which will, God willing, be mentioned later. After that he said:

“Al-Ṭabarānī has narrated with a sound chain from Qatādah, from Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, that Tamīm …”