Ruling on women wearing pants under a short garment

Praise
be to Allah.

The clothing in which a woman appears
before non-mahram men must meet eight conditions: 

1-      It should cover the entire body,
including the face and hands. The evidence for that has been discussed in
the answer to question no.

11774.

2-      It must be wide and loose, not
showing the size of her limbs or the shape of her body.

3-      It should not be thin, showing the
colour of her skin.

4-      It should not be an adornment in
and of itself, such as clothing decorated with embroidery.

5-      It should not be perfumed.

6-      It should not resemble the
clothing of men.

7-      It should not resemble the dress
of kaafir women.

8-      It should not be a dress of fame
and vanity. 

See Adaab al-Zafaaf by Shaykh al-Albaani
(may Allaah have mercy on him), p. 177; Hijaab al-Mar’ah al-Muslimah,
p. 16-111; ‘Awdat al-Hijaab, 3/145-163. 

Based on this, a woman should not appear
in front of men wearing pants or trousers because they show the shape of the
woman’s legs

2 – Wearing them is an imitation of men 

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have
mercy on him) said: I think that the Muslims should not follow these
fashions and kinds of clothes that come to us from here and there. Many of
them are not in accordance with proper Islamic dress which involves covering
the woman completely, like the short or very tight or thin clothes. That
includes pants, because they show the size of a woman’s legs, as well as her
stomach, waist, breasts, etc. Wearing it comes under the description given
in the saheeh hadeeth: “there are two types of the people of Hell whom I
have not seen: people with whips like the tails of cattle, with which they
strike the people, and women who are clothed yet naked, walking with an
enticing gait, with something on their heads that looks like the humps of
camels, leaning to one side. They will never enter Paradise or even smell
its fragrance, although its fragrance can be detected from such and such a
distance.” 

This hadeeth was narrated by Muslim,
2128. 

End quote from Majmoo’ Fataawa al-Shaykh
Ibn ‘Uthaymeen. 

With regard to wearing pants under a
jilbaab, there is nothing wrong with that, rather it is more covering and
more protective, if the jilbaab is wide and concealing and does not have any
splits that show what is underneath it. 

Shaykh ‘Abd al-Razzaaq ‘Afeefi (may Allaah
have mercy on him) said: If a woman wears pants and puts over them a wide
garment then she will not be resembling men, so long as she wears them
underneath her garments. End quote from Fataawa al-Shaykh ‘Abd al-Razzaaq
‘Afeefi, p. 573. 

The basic principle is that the woman’s
jilbab should be wide and cover the tops of her feet, because of the report
narrated by al-Tirmidhi (1731), al-Nasaa’i (5336), Abu Dawood (4117) and Ibn
Maajah (3580) from Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: The
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“Whoever lets his garment drag out of pride, Allaah will not look at him on
the Day of Resurrection.” Umm Salamah said: “What should women do with their
hems?” He said: “Let them down by a handspan.” She said: “But then their
feet will be uncovered.” He said: “Then a cubit, but no more than that.”
This hadeeth was classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Sunan al-Tirmidhi. 

Al-Baaji said: The words of Umm Salamah
(may Allaah be pleased with her) regarding lengthening the hem by a handspan
– “But then their feet will be uncovered” – show that this length was not
sufficient to cover them, because the movement of her feet when walking
quickly, combined with the shortness of the hem, would lead to them being
uncovered. When she pointed that out to the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him), he said: “Then a cubit, but no more than that.” End
quote from al-Muntaqa. 

Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan (may Allaah
preserve him) was asked: Is it mustahabb or waajib for a woman to make her
dress long? Is wearing socks on the feet sufficient if the dress is
shortened only so much that nothing of the calf shows? How should a woman
lengthen her dress by a cubit – below the ankle or below the knee? 

He replied: What is required of the Muslim
woman is to cover all her body in front of men, hence she is allowed to
lengthen her garment by a cubit so as to cover her feet, whereas men are
forbidden to let their garments hang below their ankles. This indicates that
women are required to cover all of their bodies. If a woman wears socks that
is doing something extra to be more on the safe side with regard to
covering, which is something good. She should also make her garment long, as
described in the hadeeth. And Allaah is the Source of strength. End quote.
Al-Muntaqa min Fataawa al-Shaykh al-Fawzaan, 5/334. 

The point is that a woman’s jilbab should
be wide and come down to her ankles or more. If it is short and comes a
handspan above the ankles, that is not permissible even if she covers her
calves and feet with pants or socks, because that is imitating men who are
enjoined to make their garments short, above the ankles. It also shows the
shape and size of her feet. 

And Allah knows best.