muslim clothing requirements

7/25/2019 Muslim Clothing Requirements

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Muslim Clothing RequirementsAccording to the Qur'an & Sunnah

From a paper complied by Jamal A. ada!i

http://www.iman.co.nz/index.htm?innerpage_ed.htm?ed/dress.htm

"ntroduction

To some as a subject the Muslim women's dress and Muslim men's clothing may sound triial.The shari'ah! howeer! assigns it moral! social! and legal dimensions.

"ne basic re#uirement to be a true belieer according to the $ur'an is to ma%e one's opinions!

&eelings! and inclinations subserient to whateer llah and his Messenger hae decided.

(t is not &itting &or a belieer! man or woman! when a matter has been

decided by llah and )is postle! to hae any option about their decision:

i& any one disobeys llah and )is postle! he is indeed on a clearly wrongpath.

Surat-ul-Ahzab*++,+-

lacing! there&ore! one's personal opinions! &eelings! or inclinations aboe or at the same leel

as the commandments o& llah is the ultimate o& human pride and anity. This means! in e&&ect!that a mortal is responding to llah's guidance saying: '0 my creator1 2our 3aw is 2our "wnopinion. ( hae my own opinion! and ( %now best what is good &or me.4 This attitude is be&itting

&or unbelieers and hypocrites! but not &or a belieer no matter how imper&ect *all are1 one may

be in implementing (slam in one's li&e.5

The exposition o& truth in an honest and straight &orward way may thus cause some unease eento good and sincere Muslims. (& may seem sa&er and diplomatic to aoid the issue altogether! or
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to present it in a diluted and ague way. (t is een sa&er and more 'diplomatic' to explicitly or

implicitly condone each others' in&ractions! to help each other &ind excuses and to rationalise

our disobedience to llah subhanahu wata'ala. This attitude is neither new nor is it withoutconse#uences. s the $ur'an presents it:

6urses were pronounced on those among the children o& (srael who

rejected &aith! by the tongue o& 7awood *7aid and o& 8sa *9esus the son

o& Mary: because they disobeyed and persisted in excesses.

or did they *usually &orbid one another the ini#uities which they

committed: eil indeed were the deeds which they did.

Surat-ul-Ma'idah*;


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>ay to the belieing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their

modesty: that will ma%e &or greater purity &or them: nd llah is wellac#uainted with all that they do.

nd say to the belieing women that they should lower their gaze andguard their modesty that they should not display their beauty and

ornaments except what *must ordinarily appear thereo& that they should

draw their eils oer their bosoms and not display their beauty except totheir husbands! their &athers! their husbands' &athers! their sons! their

husbands' sons! their brothers or their brothers' sons! or their sisters' sons!

or their women! or the slaes whom their right hands possess! or maleserants &ree o& physical needs! or small children who hae no sense o& the

shame o& sex and that they should not stri%e their &eet in order to drawattention to their hidden ornaments. nd 0 you belieers1 Turn all toward

llah that you may attain bliss.

Surat-un-Nur*5@ +0,+=

These 'ayahs contain! among other things! two main injunctions:

=. Muslim woman should not display her beauty! and adornment *zeenah except

&or 4that which must ordinarily appear o& it4+*ma dhahara minha! or 4that

which is apparent.4@

The word zeenah;lends itsel& to two related meanings:

a. atural or bodily beauty! -

b. c#uired adornment such as rings! bracelets! and clothes.

The part o& zeenah! exempted &rom the aboe injunction! was interpreted
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in two ways:

a. The &ace and the hands. This is the interpretation o& the majority

o& the jurists! past and present. AThis interpretation is con&irmed

by ijma' *consensus that a Muslim woman is allowed by (slam touncoer her &ace and hands during pilgrimage and een during

the prayers! while the rest o& her body is regarded as 'awrah *that

which should be coered.


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garment. The rophet pubh! howeer! indicated that i& the women's dress meets the

(slamic standards it su&&ices *without a cloa% een &or the alidity o& prayers. =5

+. he hird Requirement( hic-ness

The dress should be thic% enough so as not to show the color o& the s%in it coers! or theshape o& the body which it is supposed to hide.

The purpose o& 'ayah *5@:+= is to hide the Muslim women's body except ma dhahara

minha *the &ace and hands. (t is obious that this purpose cannot be sered i& the dressis thin enough so as to reeal the color o& the s%in or the shape or beauty o& the body.

This is elo#uently explained by rophet Muhammad pbuh: 4(n later *generations o& my

urnmah there will be women who will be dressed but na%ed. "n top o& their heads *what

loo%s li%e camel humps. 6urse them &or they are truly cursed.4 (n another ersion headded that they 4will not enter into paradise or *een get a smell o& it.4 =+

t one occasion sma' *daughter o& bu,Fa%r was isiting her sister ''ishah! wi&e o&

the rophet. Bhen he noted that sma's dress was not thic% enough he turned his &ace

away in anger and said! "If the woman reaches the age of puberty! no part of her bodyshould be seen! but this! and he pointed to his face and his hands."=@

@. he Fourth Requirement( #+erall Appearance

The dress should not be such that it attracts men's attention to the woman's beauty. The

$ur'an clearly prescribes the re#uirements o& the woman's dress &or the purpose o&concealing zeenah *adornment. )ow could such zeenah be concealed i& the dress is

designed in a way that it attracts men's eyes to the woman?

This is why the $ur'an addressing the rophet's wies as the examples &or Muslimwomen says:

4Fedizen not yourseles with the bedizenment o& the Time o& (gnorance.. .4

=;
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Additional Requirements/

In addition to the above four main and clearly spelled out requirements, there areother requirements whose specific applications may vary with time and location.

These include:

1. The dress should not be similar to what is known as a male costume. lbn'Abbas narrated that The !rophet cursed the men who act like women and thewomen who act like men. 1"

#. It should not be similar to what is known as the costume of unbelievers. Thisrequirement is derived from the $eneral rule of %hari'ah that &uslims shouldhave their distinct personality and should differentiate their practices andappearance from unbelievers. 1

(. The dress should not be similar to what is known as a male costume. lbn'Abbas narrated that The !rophet cursed the men who act like women and thewomen who act like men. 1"

). It should not be a dress of fame, pride and vanity. %uch fame may be sou$htby wearin$ an e*cessively fancy dress as a status symbol or an e*cessivelyra$$ed dress to $ain others' admiration of one's selflessness. +oth motives areimproper by Islamic standards. The !rophet pbuh says:

"Whoever wears a dress of fame in this world, Allah will clothe him with adress of humiliation in the day of resurrection, then set it afire."1

Requirements Of Muslim Men's Clothing

It should be noted that the basic requirements of the &uslim woman's dress apply aswell to the &uslim man's clothin$ with the difference bein$ mainly in de$ree. Thiscan best be understood by lookin$ into what Islam defines as 'awrah which refers to

the part of the body that should be covered at all times unless there is an e*pressede*ception. The coverin$ of 'awrah is also a condition for the validity of prayers forboth men and women.

It has been a$reed amon$ -urists on the basis of the ur'an and %unnah that 'awrahfor the woman is defined as the whole body e*cept for the face and hands. /or theman, the 'awrah is defined as the area between the navel and the knees. #0
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ithin the definition of 'awrah for men and women, all the four basic requirementsdiscussed in this paper are essentially the same:

1. &an should fully cover his 'awrah.

#. &en's clothes should be loose enou$h so as not to describe what he is coverin$2his 'awrah3.

(. They should be thick enou$h so as not to describe the color of the skin or theparts required to be covered.

). They should not be desi$ned in a way to attract attention. The basic rule ofmodesty and avoidin$ show off applies to all believers men and women.

The three other additional requirements discussed under the &uslim woman's code of

dress apply to men's clothes as well:

1. They should not be similar to what is known as the female dress.

#. They should not be similar to what could be identified as the dress ofunbelievers.

(. They should not be clothes of fame, pride, and vanity.

In addition to the above limitations on the &uslim man's clothes, men are notallowed to wear silk and $old. This does not apply to women.

Conclusion

There are surely many other issues pertainin$ to the sub-ects that are not covered inthis paper Its main focus is on the documented in-unctions of Allah 2subhanahuwat'ala3 as derived from 4is word 2the ur'an3 and as e*plained by the chosen&essen$er, &uhammad 2peace be upon him3. These in-unctions are to be compliedwith by all &uslim men and women5 and in case of trans$ression, they will be held

accountable in the hereafter. Truly husbands, fathers, and mothers do have anobli$ation to remind, e*hort and help each other achieve the pleasure of Allah andto avoid 4is wrath. In the final analysis, however, it is not coercion or force which islikely to brin$ about obedience to Allah. It is but, the love of Allah, the acceptanceof 4is $uidance as the supreme Truth even if contrary to one's personal opinions, thatwill brin$ about the chan$e.


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Major References

Al6ur'an, Translation of meanin$s by A. 7usuf Ali and &. & !ickthal.

Al64adith, as cited.

Al6Albani, &uhammad 8. 4i-abul &ar'at6il6&uslimah /il69ttab assunah, (rd !rintin$,Al6&aktab6ul6lslami, +eirut, ebanon, 1( A.4. 21;3.

Al6aradawi, 7usuf, Al'4alal alharam /il6lslam, &aktabat ahbah,


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;. The term eenah is used in the ur'an to refer to children, wealth, andnatural beauty in Allah's creation. %ee e*ample ur'an 1":)", 1;:, (":; and(:1). Top

". This is the interpretation of &alik, Ash6%hafi'i, Abu 4anifa and a version ofAhmad b. 4anbal. %ee Al6Albani op. cit., pp. )16)#. Top

. Al6Albani provides ample evidence that the coverin$ of the face and hands isnot required. %uffice it to say that the woman is allowed to uncover her faceand hands durin$ such spiritual acts as the prayers and pil$rima$e. %ee pp. #@6);. Top

. >ne weakness with this more strin$ent interpretation is that 'uncontrollable'factors are automatically for$iven without any need for specification. The factthat ur'an #):(1 e*empts from all eenah that which is re$arded as ma

dhahara minha is itself an indication of a concession. This concession isconfirmed by the 4adith 2related to Asma' as will be seen in the discussion ofthe third requirement. %ee Al6Albani, ibid, pp. #@6);.Top

10.Accordin$ to Al6Albani, this meanin$ of khirmar was e*plained in suchauthorities as lbn6ul6Atheer's An68ihaya and Tafseer6ul64afi lbn69athir andothers. Al Albani reports that he knows of no difference on this point. %ee Al6Albani, ibid, pp. ((6(). Top

11. This 4adith appears in &usnad Ahmad, also in Al6+ayhaqi, and is confirmed inother sources of 4adith such as %unan Abi6=awood. %ee Al6 Albani, ibid, p. @6

;(. Top

1#.%ee %ayyid %abiq's /iqh6us6%unnahf, =ar6ul69itab6il6'6Arabi, +eirut, ebanon,1;, vol. 1, p. 1#". Top

1(. At6Tabarabi and %ahih &uslim. %ee al6Albani, op. cit., p. @;. Top

1).At another occasion when the !rophet pbuh saw a bride in a thin dress hesaid, she is not a woman who believes in %urat6un68oor who wears this.%urat6un68oor is the %urah where the main requirements of the &uslimwoman's dress are outlined. %till on another occasion some women from the

tribe of +ani Tameem came to visit 'A'ishah in thin clothes. Cpon seein$ them,the !rophet pbuh said, lf you are believers, then these are not believers'clothin$. %ee 7usuf Al6aradawi, op6 cit., p. 1;0. Top

[email protected] term used in the ur'an is tabarru- which means displayin$ of beauty.Another derivative of tabarru- is buroo- which is used in the ur'an 2e.$. ):"",1@:1;, #@:;1, @:13. +uroo- means tower because of their clear visibility.


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or the way she behaves. Top

1;.Accordin$ to Al6Albani, a further requirement is that the dress should not beperfumed. In fact, this requirement e*tends beyond dress. There are several

ahadeeth which make it clearly forbidden for a &uslim woman to wearperfumes when she $oes out of her home even if she is $oin$ to the mosque.%ee Al6Albani, op. cit., pp. ;)6;;. Top

1".Al6+ukhari, Abu6=awood, Ahmad, Ad6darimi. /or this and other ahadeeth onthe same sub-ect see Al6Albani, ibid, pp. ;;6;. Top

1./or an e*cellent discussion of this principle on the basis of ur'an and %unnah,see Al6Albani, ibid, pp. "610.

1./or this and other versions of the hadeeth see Al6Albani, ibid, pp. 1106

111. Top

#0. =ifference e*ists, however, amon$ -urists whether the knees and the thi$hsshould be included in the definition of the man's 'awrah. /or a $ood discussionon the evidence related to both views, see %ayyid %abiq's /iqh6us6 %unnah, op.cit., vol. 1, pp. 1#@61#". Top
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Gor Muslim men and women! , Gor belieing men and women! Gor true

men and women! Gor men and women who are

atient and constant! &or men nd women who humble themseles! Gor

men and women who gie (n charity! &or men and women Bho &ast *and

deny themseles! Gor men and women who Huard their chastity! and

Gor men and women who 8ngage much in Hod's praise!, Gor them has Hod

prepared Gorgieness and great reward.

$ur'an!Al-Ahzab #$

SOURCE

Grom The Muslim Boman's 7ress

ccording to the $ur'an and >unnah


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Compiled by Jamal A. ada!i

ublished by Ta,)a ublishers 3td

-treet! 3ondon B=

andGederation o& >tudents (slamic >ocieties in

I.D. J 8ire

+< Mapesbury Koad! 3ondon B5 @97(>F 0 C0A@-= =5+

ast Cpdated 1"E11E#001 1":0)

PLEASE NOTEThe re!eale" Ara#ic $ur'an is the authoritati!e an" %rimar& source

of referenceand as such the ur'anic Bn$lish translations are provided purely asindicative interpretations.

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