The ‘awra that must be covered by a man in the presence of everyone except his wife is the area between the navel and the knee, excluding the navel and knee. (The knee is excluded because no command has come down to cover it.) Based on this, the thigh must also be covered. Revealing it is forbidden, as is looking at another man’s thigh. (As for the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ revealing his thigh in front of Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, it was an isolated incident, whereas the command to cover the thigh was given multiple times.) More details and discussion.
اعْلَمْ أَنَّ عَوْرَةَ الرَّجُلِ الْوَاجِبُ عَلَيْهِ سَتْرُهَا عَنْ النَّاسِ خَلَا زَوْجَتَهُ وَأَمَتَهُ مَا بَيْنَ الرُّكْبَةِ وَالسُّرَّةِ مَعَ رَجُلٍ مِثْلِهِ أَوْ امْرَأَةٍ مَحْرَمٍ لَهُ، وَالسُّرَّةُ وَالرُّكْبَةُ خَارِجَتَانِ، وَهَذَا يَقْتَضِي أَنَّ الْفَخِذَ مِنْ الرَّجُلِ عَوْرَةٌ فَيَجِبُ عَلَيْهِ سَتْرُهُ وَيَحْرُمُ عَلَيْهِ كَشْفُهُ وَالنَّظَرُ إلَيْهِ وَهُوَ مَا اخْتَارَهُ ابْنُ الْقَطَّانِ
Source: Al-Nafrawi’s Commentary on Al-Risala, vol 1, pp 130.
Written by: Shadee Elmasry