Title: Regarding Covering one's Head during Prayers Question: Our Imams sometimes really embarrass the prayers by telling them that head should be covered during Salah . Could you please give an example of any sahabah in the history that did not cover his head during Salah ? Thanks. Jazzakallah khairun Nauman Ilyas Pakistan Answer: The people who stress that heads must be covered during prayers do so because they hold it as "Sunnah" . Therefore, before replying your specific question,. I would like to mention, what, in my opinion, "Sunnah" is: Only that action is a Sunnah , which, by its very nature, is a part of Deen or which has been given the status of Deen by the Prophet (pbuh). There are certain things, which are well known as a part of Deen , and there is no controversy about their status such as prayers, zakat , Hajj etc. Such things, of course enjoy the status of Sunnah and their placement in Deen is above all debate. There are some other things, which have also been placed among Deen by the authority of the Prophet (pbuh) e.g. eating with the right hand or washing one's private parts after urination or defecation ( Istinjah ); such things are also included in Sunnah . This principle automatically excludes all those things from the purview of Sunnah , which are cultural in nature or are specific to a particular civilization or their existence or form depends upon or is attached to the advancement of technology. Your mentioned thing i.e. cap is cultural in its nature and has not been given the status of Deen by the Prophet (pbuh). The Prophet (pbuh) did not specify a particular uniform for prayers, he and his companions would offer prayers in their normal dress, and because head covering was a part of their normal dress, they would wear it during prayers as well. Thus, even today, if head covering is a part of one's dress, it would be preferable for him to offer prayers while wearing the same, if otherwise, then covering the head specially for offering prayers is a thing, which lacks the endorsement of the "Shari`ah" . As for giving the names of any companions who offered their prayers without their heads covered, there is clearly no record of that. However, on the other hand, there is also no record of any companion who would specially cover his head during prayers, while keeping it uncovered otherwise. Regards, Siddiq Bukhary. February 14, 2003