- 2ed Qualification of Salaah (Satre Aurat - Covering of the body)

1) It is compulsory to cover the body, meaning how much of the body in Salaah should be covered at least.

2) For males, from below the naval to below the knees is compulsory, that it is covered, it is not compulsory to cover the naval, but the knees must be covered.

3) For women who are not slaves nor have any restriction of Shariah on them, it is compulsory for them to cover all their body except the face, hands upto the wrists and feet upto the ankles. It is also compulsory for women to cover the hair hanging from their heads, their necks and their collars (throats).

4) If a woman has worn a very thin veil over her head that the hair's shininess can be seen then the Salaah will not count.

5)  For a female servant/slave the whole of the stomach, back, both sides and from the navel to the knees is all aurat (parts that need covering).

6)  In all the parts that are compulsory to cover if one part was uncovered and was less than a quarter, then the Salaah will count. If it is a quarter in size and is recovered immediately, then the Salaah will count. If the part was uncovered for one 'Rukun' meaning the time you could say Subhanallah three times or was uncovered deliberately and whether it was covered again immediately, the Salaah will not count.

Parts of Aurat in a Male

There are nine parts of the body which are aurat for a male.
1. The penis
2. Both testicles
3. Posterior
4. The right hip
5. The left hip
6. The right thigh (upto and including the knee)
7. The left thigh (upto and including the knee)
8. From below the naval upto the male organ and upto both sides of the body inclusive.
9. The area between the testicles upto the posterior is a single aurat.

- The aurats that have been counted above are all one part each, meaning if less than a quarter of each part became uncovered, the Salaah would count.

-  If some parts of the aurats became uncovered but were all less than a quarter, however, when added together the size would be more than a quarter of the smallest part that has been uncovered, then the Salaah will not count. For example, if a ninth of a thigh was uncovered, a ninth of hip and a ninth of a penis was uncovered then the size added together is more than a quarter of the penis, the Salaah will not count [Alamgiri, Radd-ul-Mohtar].

-  At the start of the Salaah if one quarter of a part is left uncovered and you say Allahu Akbar, the Salaah will not start [Radd-ul-Mohtar].
 

Aurat parts for a woman

For women who are not slaves, except for the five parts mentioned above (face, both hands upto the wrists and both feet upto the ankles) all the body is aurat. This is split into thirty parts of the body. The same rule applies in Salaah (as mentioned above) if a quarter became uncovered for each part.

1. The head, meaning from the top of the head upto the start of the neck.
2. The hair that hangs down
3. The right ear
4. The left ear
5. The neck (and throat)
6. The right shoulder
7. The left shoulder
8. The top right arm including the elbow
9. The top left arm including the elbow
10. The bottom right arm (below the elbow upto and including the wrist)
11. The bottom left arm (below the elbow upto and including the wrist)
12. The chest, below the neck/throat to the breasts
13. Back of the right hand
14. Back of the left hand
15. The right breast
16. The left breast
17. The stomach, meaning from below the breasts upto and including the navel
18. The upper back, meaning the other side of the chest
19. Both armpits upto the lower back
20. The right hip
21. The left hip
22. The vagina
23. The posterior
24. The right thigh upto and including the knees, the knee is not a separate part but is included
25. The left thigh upto and including the knees, the knee is not a separate part but is included
26. Below the naval upto the start of the pubic hair and the lower back, is all one aurat.
27. The right shin, from below the knee upto and including the ankle
28. The left shin, from below the knee upto and including the ankle.
29. The right base of the foot
30. The left base of the foot

1)  Many Ulema have not included the back of the hands and the base of the feet as Aurat.

2) Although the woman's face is not an Aurat, it is still forbidden to expose it to non-permissible males (those a woman is not restricted to marry). Also it is forbidden for non-permissible males to look at their face.

3) If a male does not have clothing that is allowed, i.e. he only has silk to cover his body, then it is obligatory for him to cover his body with the silk cloth and can pray Salaah with it on, however, if a male has other material available then it is Haram for a male to wear silk, and if a Salaah is prayed with silk on, then it will become Makrooh-e-Tahrimi.

4) If a naked person can obtain access to a table or floor cloth, then they must cover themselves with this and pray Salaah, and also if they can use leaves or straw to cover themselves, then they must do this [Alamgiri].

5) If someone has no clothes or material, then they should pray Salaah seated and perform Ruku and prostration (Sajda) by actions [Hidaya, Durr-e-Mukhtar, Radd-ul-Mohtar].

6) If another person has material or clothing and the naked person feels sure that the person will lend it to them, then it is necessary to ask for the material [Radd-ul-Mohtar].

7) If you only have impure clothes and there is no way of cleaning them, then pray with the impure clothes, do not pray naked [Hidaya].

8) If there isn't enough clothing to cover the whole of the body but you can only cover some parts, then it is necessary that you do this and cover the private parts (vagina and posterior) first. And if there is only enough to cover one private part, then cover one of the two.

9)  If by praying Salaah whilst standing, one quarter of an aurat becomes uncovered, then pray Salaah whilst seated [Durr-e-Mukhtar, Radd-ul-Mohtar].