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Conditions for permissibility of wearing high heels for women

Question

Is it permissible for a Muslim woman to wear shoes with high heels that do not produce a sound while walking? If the answer is no, then what should a short girl do?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

There is no explicit Islamic text that suggests the impermissibility of wearing shoes with high heels that do not make a sound while walking provided that the following conditions are met:

1. The high-heeled shoes do not make a noise, which attracts the attention of men.

2. Wearing such shoes does not involve imitation of the disbelievers or immoral and depraved people.

3. The woman should cover the high-heeled shoes with her dress if they are decorated.

4. Wearing them should not be harmful to the woman's health.

The type of shoes that is impermissible for a woman to wear is that which makes a tapping sound while walking. This is based on the words of Allaah, the Exalted, (which mean): {And let them not stamp their feet to make known what they conceal of their adornment.} [Quran 24:31] Moreover, Allaah, the Exalted, has forbidden the impermissible exposure of a woman's adornment. He says (what means): {And [they shall] not expose their adornment except that which [necessarily] appears thereof.} [Quran 24:31]

The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, also forbade imitating the disbelievers. He, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "He who imitates any people is of them." [Ahmad and others]

Allaah Knows best.

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