Attire and adornment – I

Allaah Says what means:"O children of Aadam! 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
Allaah that perhaps they will remember."]Quran 7: 26[
One of the visible favours of Allaah upon His slaves is that He has
created for them different materials by which they can conceal their
private parts.
Allaah also Says what means:"So We said: 'O Aadam! Indeed this is an
enemy to you and to your wife. Then let him not remove you
fromParadiseso you would suffer. Indeed, it is ]promised[ foryou not
to be hungry therein or be unclothed."]Quran 20: 117-118[
Hunger is internal humiliation whilst nakedness is external
humiliation, but neither of these two exists inParadise. The dwellers
ofParadiseenjoy wearing different garments one on top of the other.
Allaah Says what means:"And when you lookthere ]inParadise[, you will
see pleasure and great dominion. Upon them ]i.e., the inhabitants[
will be green garments of fine silk and heavy silk..."]Quran 76:
20-21[
Thus, clothing is a blessing from Allaah that He has bestowed upon us,
as Allaah Says in the abovementioned verse, what means:"O children of
Aadam! Wehave bestowed upon you clothing to conceal your private
parts…"
Concealing one's private parts is mandatory, but this is not all;
rather, Allaah has, in addition, bestowed upon us adornment. Following
this adornment is the inner adornment, which is the spiritual one, as
Allaah Says in thesame verse what means:"But theclothing of
righteousness — that is best. That is from the signs of Allaah that
perhaps they will remember."
If the clothing of piety is lost then one's faults are exposed; and if
the clothing of the body is gone, then his private parts become
exposed, which results in great trials, leaving Satan to open an arena
in which to lure mankind. This is why Allaah
Says in the aforementioned verse of Chapter Taa Haa what means:"So We
said: 'O Aadam! Indeed this is an enemy to you and to your wife. Then
let him not remove you fromParadiseso you would suffer. Indeed, it
is]promised[ for you not to be hungry therein or be unclothed."]Quran
20: 117-118[
Unclothing is a plot of Satan, and the first sin that was ever
committed resulted in unclothing, as Allaah Says what means:"O
children of Aadam! Let not Satan tempt you as he removed your parents
from Paradise, stripping them of their clothing )i.e., the garments
ofParadise( to show them their private parts…"]Quran 7: 27[
Satan initiated his war against the children of Aadam by trying to
entice them to expose their private parts, and this battle continued
until it has reached its peak in our time when people have actually
exposed their private parts and there are nude clubs, nude beaches,
and channels on satellite television for nudity, fornication and
'summer fashions', which is practical nudity. All these things, which
the sinners among the children of Aadam thought up with the help of
Satan, are vividly shown on TV screens.
Moreover, there are so many magazines and internet websites that
feature nudity that it has become something that many feel no shame in
publishing or viewing, because the plot of Satan is to corrupt mankind
by exposing people's private parts.
This is why Allaah warns us by saying what means:"O children of Aadam!
Let not Satan tempt you…"]Quran 7: 27[ Satan does this by all means
possible: movies, magazines, fashion shows, beauty contests, scanty
clothing that women wear to weddings, satellite television channels,
and so on. Immorality has become readily available and people are
constantly exposed to it.
Imaam At-Tabaristated when commenting on this verse: "It means: Let
not Satan deceive you into obeying him and therefore exposing your
private parts to others, thus depriving yourselves from entering
Paradise, which is exactly what resulted in your father )i.e. Aadam(
being expelled from Paradise."
This is a very dangerous issue because it could result in one being
deprived of entering Paradise, and this is why Islam mandates
concealing one's private parts and defines the 'Awrah )i.e., the parts
of the bodythat one is Islamically obliged to cover( and how to cover
it. The 'Awrah is defined precisely and indetail for people of all
ages and every phase: for infants up to twoyears of age, then for
childhood, and then for the phase that lasts up to and beyond puberty.
Islam obligates clothing because nakedness is a dispraised matter.A
man once entered into the presence of the Prophetwhilewearing improper
clothing, so heasked:"Do you have money?"The man replied: "Yes, from
all means. Allaah has granted me camels, sheep, horses and slaves."
Thereupon, the Prophetsaid to him:"Then let the favour and blessings
of Allaah be apparent on you."Imaam Ibn Hajarcommented on this
narration stating: "This means: wear the clothing that suits the level
of bounties of Allaah upon you, and which is clean and pleasant, so
that needy people would recognise a person's status and know to ask
from himcharity. However, in order to judge this issue in light of all
relevant texts, one must be moderate in this regard and not
extravagant."
This is how real scholars are: theyjudge an issue in light of all the
relevant texts related to it, and do not focus on an isolated piece of
evidence. This is an advice to all students of knowledge who seek the
truth, this is how you should be, too - never take one text in
isolation when there are other texts related to the issue that you are
judging, so that you can have a complete picture before making your
final judgment.
An example to illustrate this is if one states that the
Prophetsaid:"Indeed Allaah is Jameel)which implies beauty( and He
loves beauty"and therefore concludes that it is permissible for the
woman to expose her beauty, since beauty is something that Allaah
loves. We ask such a person: Are you aware of the other texts that
specificallyprohibit the woman to expose here beauty in front of
marriageable men and the texts that command her to adhere to Hijaab
)i.e. Muslim woman's outfit in Islam(?
Some scholars who were wealthywould wear the best clothing that they
possessed during seasons such as Ramadan so thatthe poor could
recognise them and ask them for charity, but as soon as these seasons
were over they would wear modest clothing as a sign of their humility
and knowledge of the narration that they were well aware of, which is
that of Mu`aathwho reported that the Messenger of Allaahsaid:"Whoever
voluntarily forsakes wearing elegant and expensive garments out of
humbleness, Allaah will call him on the Day of Resurrection and give
him, in front of all )His( creation, the choice to wear whichever
garment of Belief he wishes."]At-Tirmithi[
The clothing of the Messenger of Allaahwas whatever he couldfind; he
would wear wool at times and cotton at others - according to what was
available for him at the time and without any extravagance; hewould
always thereby be acting in accordance with the commands of Allaah.
One can eat, wear or drink anything )that is lawful( as long as it is
without extravagance or boasting. Men may not wear silk because there
is a specific text that prohibits silk for men.