Short answer
It depends where the rips are. For a man in the Hanafi school, rips that show any skin between the navel and the knees, including the knees, expose his awrah, and that is haram in front of others. Rips below the knee are not an awrah issue, but many muftis still advise against a style built on looking torn. For women the rules are stricter.
Exposing any part of the awrah in front of others is haram; for a man in the Hanafi school this is from the navel to and including the knee. Ripped jeans that expose nothing of the awrah are permissible, though many muftis discourage them as wasteful fashion.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- The knee itself is not part of a man's awrah, though everything between the navel and the knee is.
- Hanbali
- The knee and navel are not awrah for a man; the area between them is.
Explanation
The Prophet ﷺ passed a man in the mosque whose thigh was showing and told him that the thigh is awrah. The Hanafi school includes the knee as well. So a rip on the thigh or knee shows awrah, and walking in public like that is not allowed, however fashionable it is.
In prayer. If a quarter or more of a part of the awrah, such as one knee, is uncovered for the length of a pillar of the prayer, the Hanafi school says the prayer is invalid. Big knee rips can easily do that when you bow and prostrate.
Rips below the knee. These do not uncover a man's awrah. But the Prophet ﷺ said that Allah loves to see the effect of His blessing on His servant, and that Allah dislikes the wasting of wealth. Many muftis therefore discourage paying extra for clothes made to look worn out, especially when the style is tied to a careless image.
- Patch or line the rips, or wear something underneath that is loose and opaque.
- Choose jeans with rips only on the shin, or none at all.
- Women: legs are awrah in front of non-mahram men, so ripped jeans in public are not suitable; see can Muslim women wear pants.
See also can men wear shorts and tight clothes.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-A'raaf 7:26
يَٰبَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ قَدْ أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكُمْ لِبَاسًۭا يُوَٰرِى سَوْءَٰتِكُمْ وَرِيشًۭا ۖ وَلِبَاسُ ٱلتَّقْوَىٰ ذَٰلِكَ خَيْرٌۭ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ ءَايَٰتِ ٱللَّهِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَذَّكَّرُونَ ﴿٢٦﴾
O children of Adam, We have bestowed upon you clothing to conceal your private parts and as adornment. But the clothing of righteousness - that is best. That is from the signs of Allah that perhaps they will remember.
Clothing exists to cover the awrah.
Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2795
Graded sahih... إن الفخذ عورة ...
"The thigh is awrah."
Said to a man whose thigh was showing in the mosque.
Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2819
Grading to be checked... إن الله يحب أن يرى أثر نعمته على عبده ...
"Allah loves to see the effect of His blessing on His servant."
Why muftis discourage clothes made to look ragged.
Sahih al-Bukhari 2408
Sahih... وكره لكم قيل وقال وكثرة السؤال وإضاعة المال ...
"Allah has disliked for you gossip, asking too many questions and wasting wealth."
Wasting money is disliked by Allah.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Salah, chapter on the conditions of prayer. A man's awrah is from below the navel to the knee, and the knee is included.
- al-Durr al-Mukhtar with Radd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Salah, chapter on the conditions of prayer. Uncovering a quarter of an awrah limb for the length of a pillar invalidates the prayer.
- Minhaj al-Talibin, Kitab al-Salah, chapter on the conditions of prayer. The Shafi'i definition of a man's awrah.
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.