Short answer
Yes, if the shoes and the ground are clean. In the Hanafi school, if you keep your shoes on, both the shoes and the ground under them must be free of najasah. The easier way is to slip your feet out and stand on top of the shoes; then only their upper surface needs to be clean.
The janazah has the same purity conditions as other prayers. Praying it while wearing shoes is valid if the shoes are pure, and many muftis add the ground under them; standing on the shoes after taking them off only requires the upper side to be pure. Ordinary dry dust from the street is not najasah.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
Janazah prayers are often held in a mosque car park, courtyard or cemetery, and people wonder whether they must take their shoes off on wet or dirty ground. The prayer has the same conditions as any other: wudu, covered awrah, facing the qiblah, and a clean body, clothes and place.
Three ways to do it:
- Shoes on. Valid when the shoes are clean. Many Hanafi muftis say the ground under them should also be clean, because you are standing there. If you have walked through something impure, such as animal droppings, do not pray in them.
- Standing on your shoes. Slip your feet out and stand on top of the shoes. Now the shoes are your prayer place, so only their upper surface needs to be clean. This is the easiest choice when the ground is doubtful.
- Barefoot or in socks on a clean mat or ground.
The Prophet ﷺ prayed in his sandals and told people to check them first, wiping off any dirt they saw. Dust, mud and dry leaves are not najasah, so normal shoes from walking to the mosque are usually fine. Waswasa about invisible dirt is not needed: if you see nothing impure, the shoes are clean.
Respect the place too. Do not walk on the prayer mats of the mosque in outdoor shoes. For prayer in shoes generally, see can you pray with shoes on, and for the janazah itself, how to pray janazah.
The evidence
Sunan Abi Dawud 650
Graded sahih... فلينظر فإن رأى في نعليه قذرا أو أذى فليمسحه وليصل فيهما ...
"Let him look, and if he sees dirt or filth on his sandals, let him wipe it off and pray in them."
Praying in clean footwear is allowed.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Salah, Bab Shurut al-Salah and Bab Salat al-Janazah. Purity of the place for the janazah, and standing on the shoes after taking them off.
- al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, Kitab al-Salah, chapter on the jana'iz. The conditions of the funeral prayer are those of prayer in general.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.