Fatwa: 864

Category: fatwas about clothes

The ruling regarding the garment which has an erased emblem of disbelief

The question:

What is the ruling concerning wearing shoes which contain an emblem of a disbelieving dogma after erasing it? And may Allah reward you with good.

The answer:

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. Peace and blessing be upon whom Allah sent as a mercy to the Worlds, upon his Family, his Companions and his Brothers till the Day of Resurrection.

If the shoes represent in themselves a known emblem of disbelief like the shoes which are specific to the church or other temples of disbelief, it will not be then permissible to wear them even after obliterating what they contain (as sign) or by erasing a part of them, because effacing does not change their nature. However, if the shoes bear an invalid doctrinal emblem, and they are not in themselves an emblem, then the fact of defacing their appearance or erasing them totally, makes them permissible to wear without any forbiddance, in accordance with the jurisprudential rule which stipulates that: “If the cause of forbiddance disappears, the forbidden thing disappears”.

The perfect knowledge belongs to Allah عزَّ وجلَّ. Our last prayer is all praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. Peace and blessing be upon our Prophet, his Family, his Companions and Brothers till the Day of Resurrection.

Algiers, Rabî`Al-Awwal 7^th, 1428H.
Corresponding to: March 26^th, 2007.