Another route comes through Hilāl ibn Maymūn ar-Ramlī, from Yaʿlā ibn Shaddād ibn Aws, from his father, as a report traced back to the Prophet.

Al-Ḥākim said, “Its chain of transmission is sound,” and al-Dhahabī agreed.

I say: every narrator in the chain is trustworthy. Ibn Ḥibbān also included it in his Ṣaḥīḥ, and—as al-Shawkānī noted—there is no valid objection to its isnād. Al-Manāwī, in his commentary on al-Jāmiʿ, cites az-Zayn al-ʿIrāqī as saying, “Its chain is ḥasan.”

It is further corroborated by a report from Anas that I recorded in Ṣifat Ṣalāt an-Nabī ﷺ.

This ḥadīth therefore supports what we have stated about the recommendation to pray in sandals. What prevents us from declaring it obligatory is the ḥadīth of Abū Hurayrah mentioned earlier, along with several other traditions referred to a moment ago—such as the ḥadīth of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr, who said:

“I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ praying both barefoot and in sandals.”

Abū Dāwūd recorded it, and al-Bayhaqī transmitted it from him; Ibn Mājah, al-Ṭaḥāwī, and Aḥmad also related it through ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather.

Its chain is either ḥasan or ṣaḥīḥ, according to the well-known difference of opinion, and the same holds true for the reports of Abū Hurayrah and ʿĀʾishah. The fact that he ﷺ occasionally prayed barefoot proves that the practice is not obligatory. Al-Shawkānī said: