All of the scholars of the four madhabs are pretty much together on this one. That the wearing of high heels is haraam. Alot of my sets feature high heels. In my daily life, I think high heels look pretty but I end up wearing flat sandals and flats. I don't own sneakers. Now that this winter has passed though, I have decided to give up wearing any ridiculously high heeled shoe when I return my winter boots to the winter storage since I read this hadith and it got me being cautious since I had never known before where the scholars had come up with their ruling from [now I do]:Narrated by Abu Sa’eed Al Khudri, Allah’s Apostle said :"A Jewish women used to put two wooden legs to lengthen her shoes, so that no one could recognise her, for she was very short.”
The Prophet forbade this action that is a kind of cheating others with the same intensity that he cursed plucking the eyebrows. My sets will still include high heeled shoes but know that I myself, will buy heightless shoes (still sylin'). I am short. That is how Allah S.W.T made me and it isn't a bad thing. Please forgive me when I slip of and gently remind me sisters I know IRL:D The sets will continue to contain crazy heels, but only cuz I liked the colour or them. Please find a more halal shoe in the same colour where you live:
This shoe I won't wear anymore, even though I could always walk in it without making a sound. It was the height issue, not the sound people, that was actually cursed. The sound thing came from wearing anklets and making loud noises with them in times of jalaliya, and some highheels do the same thing today so women USUALLY are pretty good about staying away from those. But any shoe that makes you considerably taller also counts.
This shoe I won't wear anymore, even though I could always walk in it without making a sound. It was the height issue, not the sound people, that was actually cursed. The sound thing came from wearing anklets and making loud noises with them in times of jalaliya, and some highheels do the same thing today so women USUALLY are pretty good about staying away from those. But any shoe that makes you considerably taller also counts.
And an always halal option is flat sandals. They aren't boring at all.
Comments
I personally stick to flats, keds/converse, and occasional wedge sandals. Btw, the pink wedge and the purple flat are beautiful!
I'm short too so I'm always wearing heels but thanks for sharing your knowledge on this!
hamdulileh, i am tall so heels never were necessarry accessory of mine... But scholars agree that all believing women should be modest, avoid making noise with their bracelets or high heels therefore. All of us wants to let it go a bit sometimes, but just think what is better jennah or dunya?
I have a question that I hope you can answer. I always thought that the feet are part of what should be covered in a woman's body... only the hands and face should show. Is this right? I've been dying to wear sandals and flip flops, the only thing holding me back is this.
Jazakallahu Khair :)
I have another question regarding footwear, and I would love to see a post about it! What about covering the feet? I noticed you said that you wore sandals (I looove sandals!), but do your feet become uncovered? That is an issue I keep going back and forth on...I love to wear flats and sandals with no socks (they are so uncomfortable, to me), and my feet are always covered when i am standing still, as my abayas reach the ground, but when I walk my feet become uncovered, simply because they reach out further than my abaya when I am stepping forward.
I know you are a not a scholar, but you are so good at putting together various sources and coming up with a conclusion!
I would love to hear what you do about this, and what your opinion is, as well as what scholars say (and possibly what the sahaba did!).
Jazakallah for this post. I was wondering if I could get the source of the hadith regaurding the jewish lady wearing heels. Its not for me, but when I want to pass on the message people ask me where I got the hadith from. It would be really helpful of you to give the source. Jazakallah once again.
Saba.
I've always worn heels, even in front of sheikhs and religious folk and have gotten nothing.
I wear heels because they're pretty. For some reason I've never felt comfortable or found flats appealing. If anyone asks me my height, I'll tell them my exact height. I'm not aiming to look taller. I'm weird, I actually find heels comfortable.
I've never posted a comment on any of your blogs before, but I've been randomly viewing your posts since Fall 2008.
Here's why I always keep coming back. I'm impressed by your consciousness of the deen, that this isn't just one of those random "fashion" blogs that feature "hijab-friendly" styles. This is more than hijab-friendly, in my opinion. You're always so mindful of the limits, and you remind others of that too. Al7amdulillah, and jazaakillah for that.
First was how you discouraged extravagance, by not featuring items that are expensive. Second was when you propagated the niqab. And now you just got me with this nice and true reminder of the Heels.
Mabrook sis, I just thought I'd let you know I really like what's going on here :)
Thnx for taking down the post about u-know-what!! Aaaaand looks like your succeeding pretty well, masha'Allah wa alhamdulillah!!
Ma'asalaama from a wet and cold Cape Town
Please make du'a for me to be strong enough to revert.
~V.R.
i love the yellow flats cute
!!!!
jen
I ask you all a simple question: will you honestly tell me that people do not recognise when you wear heels as opposed to flats??
The hadith could just as easily be understood to mean that: (as we know) Jewish women often veiled their faces, and this woman has particularly short and hence was disctinctive and easily recognised even when veiled. So the hadith, if you read it carefully, puts the emphasis on not letting other people recognise who you are (perhaps because its easier to gett away with things you shouldn't be doing when no one knows who you are!)
Again, lets look in a little depth at the issue and not get carried away with simplistic arguments. Wearing flat shoes is medically proven to be unhealthy for you; the ideal height is 3/4 to one inch.
that heel in first pik looks painful
First: ha ha ha. Cute. My view is "pedestrian" because we walk in shoes and pedestrains walk, and shoes are the topic of the day:D. I really did find it to be cute, the word choice, and without-any-malignant regard even though I disagree with your understanding, let me say I like your word selection. It made me smile.
Second: You asked 'I ask you all a simple question: will you honestly tell me that people do not recognise when you wear heels as opposed to flats??' My answer is yes. People DO recognize when I am wearing HIGH heels opposed to wearing flats. Note, I said HIGH heels, not simply heels. I don't know if you looked at the pictures in the post [my experiences on blogger have been that sometimes people don't read a blog in entirely and thus misunderstandings are born] but I don't think all shoes with a heel make us noticeably taller. Kitten heels, two, and even three inch heels or wedges often don't make a considerable difference in my day. People won't comment if I am wearing a pair of heels like the pink plaid ones on monday, and then the flat yellow slides on tuesday. But they will if I am wearing the black and gold wedges on wednesday, and then the more minute pink wedges on thursday.
Third: your understanding of the hadith is "The hadith could just as easily be understood to mean that: (as we know) Jewish women often veiled their faces, and this woman has particularly short and hence was disctinctive and easily recognised even when veiled. So the hadith, if you read it carefully, puts the emphasis on not letting other people recognise who you are (perhaps because its easier to gett away with things you shouldn't be doing when no one knows who you are!)" but this is not compatible with the hadith connected to the one I mentioned, which say clearly the reason this was an issue is that it was a deception and changing Allah S.W.T's creation in the same way that filing the teeth, tatooing, wearing wigs/rags in the hair, and plucking the eyebrows considerbly beyond in their natural form were cursed. Which is why none of the scholars have come to the same conclusion as you have. They also conclude that this is something that we are to be different from the Jews and the Christians and pagans in, so increasing height in a noticable manner with high heeled shoes is considered most uniformly to be haraam, and in the very least to be makruh (disliked by the ulema's consensus). And Allah subhanhu wa ta'ala and His Messenger know best.
Fourth: Agreeing with you '...again, lets look in a little depth at the issue and not get carried away with simplistic arguments'. Yes, please understand the reasons the scholars have come to these conclusions and not just come up with an interpretation that has nothing to do with the context of the hadith and other relevent to the subject, and then change the subject with information outside of an Islamic base.
Fifth: You provided the medical information that 'Wearing flat shoes is medically proven to be unhealthy for you; the ideal height is 3/4 to one inch.' I said nothing to the contrary. I said heeled shoes or wedges/platforms are the type of shoes I was addressing as being held to be makruh by the scholars and I illustrated with pictures to make my point. Eve Glicksman, Staff Writer of, myOptumHealth [link here:http://www.myoptumhealth.com/portal/Health+Hubs/item/Flat+Facts+About+High+Heels] says "Heels over two inches affect the natural way you walk. A heel higher than three inches puts seven times the pressure on the ball of your foot and can harm the bones." Health conditions blamed on HIGH HEELS by doctors: Blisters, corns or calluses can develop when high heels throw weight into the ball of your foot.
Lower back pain can result when your spine bends backwards to compensate the forward push of your body when you walk in heels.
Pain in the ball of your foot, a condition called metatarsalgia, can stem from high heels.
Ankle sprains are more likely because your foot position in heels and the often-narrow heel width can make ankles unstable.
Achilles tendonitis is a risk. Frequent wearing of heels shortens and tightens calf muscles. This can lead to painful inflammation of the Achilles tendon at the back of your heel.
Benign tumors of nerves, called neuromas, can grow between toes. Symptoms may include sharp pain and tingling or numbness of the toes.
"Pump bump," or Hagland's deformity, has been linked to women who often wear high heels. This painful bump on the back of the heel bone occurs when the bone rubs against the shoe or a narrow, pointed shoe makes toes curl up.
Wearing heels all the time can even make wearing flats impossible if your foot becomes used to the position of heels. This can lead to more serious problems, like bone spurs or Achilles tendon tears.
Brenden Brown is a podiatrist who sees about 500 women every year with problems caused by wearing heels.
He says that damage can be inflicted by high heels over a period of one day or 40 years. Each person is different and the effects of wearing heels will differ on everybody.
He says the reason high heel wearers suffer back pain is your body's centre of gravity is thrust forward. High heels cause the forefoot to overwhelm the joints and the toes. Osteoarthritis can also be caused by high heels because the soft tissue overcompensates when under strain.
So yes, high heels are bad for your health. But is there such a thing as a high heel that's good for you, and does height and width make a difference? To find out Leila met with Dr Casey Kerrigan, who is a Professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, USA.
Dr Kerrigan has been studying the impact of heels on our body since the late '90s. And, unfortunately, heel lovers, it's not good news. We already know wearing high shoes can injure your backs and feet, but that's not all …
According Dr Kerrigan, women have twice as much knee arthritis compared to men and nobody's been able to figure out why. She says if you look at it from a biomechanical perspective, then it makes sense that shoe wear would affect the knee.
Dr Kerrigan's research shows that wearing a stiletto puts 25 percent more pressure on your poor old knees and hips, each time you take a step. Surprisingly, wide heels aren't a step up.
"The fact that wide heels feel more comfortable and may have a wider forefoot, as well as a strap, you actually then trust the shoe more and therefore put more forces through the shoe," she says.
So is there any kind of shoe we can safely wear?
According to Dr Kerrigan, "a perfect shoe should be a shoe with hardly any support at all and with no heel, at the very most a half inch of a heel."
“If the heel is continually in a raised position, then it shortens the calf muscle. All the weight is forced on to the metatarsal head and this can cause bunions, corns and calluses; prolonged wear also causes degeneration of joint function,” says Dr Charlotte Hawkins, a specialist in biomechanics and gait. “Overall, it is not a great idea.” So what is an acceptable heel height? “One or maybe two inches.”
I think the doctors conclusions are the same one's I reached here on ILOVEHISHMA.
No offense meant to whatsoever, and love you for the sake of Allah subhanhu wa ta'ala.:D
I am 100% with 'bellyache'.
Keep it up sis!
You are doing a wonderful job.
I LOVE UR BLOG!!!!
Islam teaches that you should obey your parents. But many of the first Muslims did not have the approval of their families. What should I do? I might be able to create a secret email address for myself if you think it's a good idea.
~V.R.
Pixie .. I love your blog so much . Keep up the good work . Hope we can be friends. me myself , looking to fix myself in alot of aspects. Being a muslims. It's also hard for me as my family thinks I'm being weird even though they are muslims