his phrase, “taraq baynahuma,” means that he placed the two garments one over the other so that they looked like a single cloth and then prayed in them. By doing this the Prophet ﷺ wished to show the questioner that it is permissible to pray in only one garment even when a second is available—so how much more so when no other garment exists! His term “at-tubban” (with the first tā’ pronounced with ḍamma and the bā’ doubled) refers to a piece of clothing shaped like the sirwāl (trousers) but without legs. Ibn al-Malik observes: “This ḥadīth yields two benefits: (1) the past-tense verb is used with the force of a command, as in ‘ṣallā,’ meaning ‘let him pray’; a comparable example is their saying, ‘ittaqā Allāha ʿabdun,’ i.e. ‘let a servant fear Allah.’ (2) the coordinating particle has been omitted; the underlying sense is, ‘A man prayed in an izār and a ridā’, and (in) an izār and a qamīṣ.’ The same ellipsis occurs in the Prophet’s statement, ‘A man gives charity from his dīnār, from his dirham, from a sāʿ of his wheat.’” End of quotation from Fatḥ. Al-Nawawī comments: “The meaning of the ḥadīth is that not everyone owns two garments; had two been made obligatory, those unable to obtain them would be prevented from praying, which would be a hardship—yet Allah says, ‘He has placed no hardship upon you in the religion’ (22:78). As for the Prophet ﷺ and the Companions praying in a single cloth, on some occasions that was because no other garment was available, while on others—though another garment was present—it was to demonstrate permissibility, as Jābir said: ‘so that the ignorant might see me.’ Otherwise, two garments remain preferable, as explained above.” End quote. Abū Zurʿa states in Ṭarḥ al-Tathrīb (2/239): “This ḥadīth is also taken to show that praying in two garments is superior for anyone who is able to do so, because the Prophet—may Allah…"