What are the evidences showing that the awrah place of a man is between his knee and navel?
Dear Brother / Sister,
According to the majority of the fiqh scholars formed by Hanafis, Malikis, Shafiis and Hanbalis, the awrah place of a man is between the navel and the kneecaps. However, Hanafis include the kneecaps too and say it is more appropriate in terms of caution and taqwa.
The evidences on which different views are based are generally hadiths. For, there is no decree that determines clearly the boundaries of awrah place. “The genitals” are meant by the word "saw'a" (al-A'raf, 7/26) mentioned in the verses; detailed information is not given about the boundaries of the other places that are necessary to cover.
Hadiths introduce clearer decrees regarding the issue. The Prophet (pbuh) states the following in a hadith: "The thigh (between his kneecaps and hips) of a Muslim man is awrah." (Musnad, III, 478)
It is stated in another hadith that the part of the body of a man that is fard to cover and haram to look at is "between his navel and kneecaps". (Abu Dawud, "Libas", 37; Daraqutni, 1, 230, 231)
Accordingly, it is haram for a man to open his body parts between his navel and kneecaps; it is also regarded haram for all men and women except his wife to look at those parts without a necessity.
However, there are also hadiths narrated from the Prophet (pbuh) that the Prophet sat with his thigh open, that he allowed others to come in when he sat like that and that he lifted his skirt up in a way that will leave his thigh uncovered. (see Bukhari, "Salah", 12; Muslim, "Fadailus-Sahaba", 26; Bayhaqi, II, 231; Shawkani, II, 71)
Zahiris and some Ahl as-Sunnah scholars say the thigh cannot be regarded as awrah based on those narrations. (see Ibn Qudama, 1, 578; Maqdisi, 1, 456; Ibn Rushd, Bidayatul-Mujtahid, 1, 99; Abul-Walid b. Rushd, XVIII, 277; Ibn Hazm, III, 210-213)
Bukhari states in his Sahih ("Salah", 12) that the chain of the narrators of the hadith of Anas stating that the thigh of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was open is stronger in terms of chain and that the hadith of Jarhad stating that the thigh is awrah is more appropriate in terms of acting cautiously in religious issues; thus, he tried to compromise the hadiths.
(see TDV İslam Ansikolpedisi, Vol. 3, p. 125-126, AVRET item, Istanbul, 1991)
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