that a person should now refrain from entering the mosque in his sandals, for the floors are covered with carpets that would be soiled were he to do so. If anyone wishes to uphold the sunnah, he may pray at home in his sandals—during the night vigil (tahajjud), the regular sunnah prayers (rawatib), or the like—and thus comply with the Prophet’s command, for he said, “The Jews do not pray in their sandals.”

The reports also include the hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah which forbids a man to wear only one sandal: he must either put both on or take both off; wearing one and leaving the other has been prohibited. The wisdom behind this—Allah knows best—is that Islam came with justice even in dress: do not shod one foot and leave the other bare, for that would be unfair to the unshod foot. For this reason the Prophet ﷺ forbade walking in a single sandal, and the scholars state that the ruling applies even if one is merely repairing the other sandal. Hence another hadith of Abu Hurayrah says: “If the strap of one of your sandals breaks, do not wear it until you have fixed the other; then put them both on together.”

As for the hadith of Jabir—recorded by Abu Dawud—in which the Prophet ﷺ forbade a man to put on his sandals while standing, it concerns footwear that needs some handling to slip the foot inside; if someone tried to do that while standing he might fall when he lifts his foot to adjust the sandal. The sandals commonly worn today, however, are easy to remove and to put on, so there is no objection to donning them while standing; such footwear is not included in the prohibition. Allah grants success.