Praying in sandals is left to one’s discretion, for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “When any of you stands for prayer, let him keep his sandals on, or place them between his feet, and let him not inconvenience anyone with them.”

This is a report from Abū Hurayrah. Abū Dāwūd, al-Ḥākim, and al-Bayhaqī recorded it through the route of al-Awzāʿī—“Muḥammad ibn al-Walīd narrated to us, from Saʿīd ibn Abī Saʿīd al-Maqburī, from his father, from him.” The chain is authentic according to the criteria of the two Shaykhs.

Al-Ḥākim also transmitted it through ʿIyāḍ ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Qurashī, from Saʿīd, from Abū Hurayrah, omitting the phrase “from his father,” and said, “Authentic on Muslim’s conditions.” Al-Dhahabī agreed, and both were correct. Al-ʿIrāqī remarked, “Abū Dāwūd related it with a sound chain, although al-Mundhirī declared it weak—but that judgment is unsound.” I say: al-Mundhirī’s criticism most likely stems only from this variation in Saʿīd’s chain, a variation that, God willing, does no harm—as I clarified in Ṣifat Ṣalāt al-Nabī ﷺ.

Even so, it is recommended to pray in sandals from time to time in order to differ from the Jews and from those who, in their excess, resemble them, for the Prophet ﷺ said, “Contradict the Jews, for they do not pray in their sandals or their leather socks.” This ḥadīth has a sound chain; it was recorded by Abū Dāwūd and al-Ḥākim, and by al-Bayhaqī from al-Ḥākim, through the route of Qutaybah ibn Saʿīd: “Marwān ibn Muʿāwiyah al-Fazārī narrated to us …”