Dress · When the moment comes
Shoes: right on first, left off first
- The practice
- Put on the right shoe first and take off the left first.
- When
- Putting on or removing shoes
- In daily life
- Let the shoe rack by your front door, or the shelf at the mosque, remind you: right foot in first on the way out, left foot out first on the way in. Kids pick this one up quickly too.
The sources
أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " إِذَا انْتَعَلَ أَحَدُكُمْ فَلْيَبْدَأْ بِالْيَمِينِ وَإِذَا نَزَعَ فَلْيَبْدَأْ بِالشِّمَالِ، لِتَكُنِ الْيُمْنَى أَوَّلَهُمَا تُنْعَلُ وَآخِرَهُمَا تُنْزَعُ ".
“Allah's Messenger ﷺ said, "If you want to put on your shoes, put on the right shoe first; and if you want to take them off, take the left one first. Let the right shoe be the first to be put on and the last to be taken off”Arabic: ara-bukhari · Translation: Muhsin Khan (eng-bukhari), from the eng-bukhari edition of hadith-api (public domain), sunnah.com numbering.
كَانَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يُعْجِبُهُ التَّيَمُّنُ فِي تَنَعُّلِهِ وَتَرَجُّلِهِ وَطُهُورِهِ وَفِي شَأْنِهِ كُلِّهِ.
“The Prophet ﷺ used to like to start from the right side on wearing shoes, combing his hair and cleaning or washing himself and on doing anything else”Arabic: ara-bukhari · Translation: Muhsin Khan (eng-bukhari), from the eng-bukhari edition of hadith-api (public domain), sunnah.com numbering.
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Get early accessSources: Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, and narrations of Jami at-Tirmidhi graded sahih or hasan sahih by al-Albani.