Attire and adornment – II

A Muslim is encouraged to adorn himself when going to the Mosque. The
Messenger of Allaahsaid:"Whoever performs Ghusl )i.e., a ritual bath(
on Friday, wears from the best of hisclothing, goes to the Mosque,
does not step over people's heads )in trying to reach the front rows(
and does not talk whilst the Imaam is talking; this will be an
expiation for his previous sins."
Healso said:"Whoever performs Ghusl on Friday, wears from the best of
his clothing, perfumes himself if he has any, goes to the Mosque, does
not step over people's heads )when trying to reach the front rows(,
then prays whatever Allaah decreed for him to pray, and doesnot talk
from the time the Imaam starts talking until he finishes, this will be
an expiation for his sins between that Friday and the next."
In this regard Allaah Says what means:"O Children of Aadam! Take your
adornment ]i.e., wear your clothing[ at every Masjid…"]Quran 7: 31[
Nowadays, people go to parties wearing their very best clothing, but
if they go to pray in the mosque, they wear the clothes that they
sleep in, or their most inferior clothing.
What type of clothes do stores sell for men nowadays? They sell
clothes that are outrageous and reflect a total lack of manhood, and
which contradict basic moralvalues. These are clothes that are
absolutely unfit for men to wear, like tight trousers which form the
parts, or jeans with advertisements of intoxicants, or clothes that
contain images of actors, actresses, dancers and singers. Some of
these clothes are in shocking colours, or are so baggy that they look
ridiculous.
Some men are shameless enoughto wear shorts in public, claimingthat
they are 'beachwear' - as if the Lord of the beach is different from
the Lord of the Mosque. As soon as a new fashion comes out, regardless
of how immoral or prohibited it is, many Muslims rush to wear it.
When some people see a person having his garment fall no lower than
the level of his mid-shin, as per the instructions in the Sunnah, they
accuse him of beingbackward and an extremist, but at the same time,
they themselves may wear Bermuda shorts, which are no longer than the
clothing they mock. It seems that just because the latter was designed
by the non-Muslims, it is the only acceptable type of clothing.
Sometimes one thinks that people have no brains and are like
programmed machines whose remote controls are in thehands of the Jews
and the westerners. Women are exposingtheir bodies and wearing tight,
transparent garments with splits.They wear short dresses and make up
in order to seduce men. All the evil designs that the non-Muslims have
concocted are adopted in our countries, and this in addition to what
takes place during weddings, where dresses are so transparent that
itis as if these weddings are meat markets!
Where are the men who are supposed to be the guardians of these women?
Where are the men with protective jealousy?
Such clothing, which seduces men and moves their lusts and desires, is
unacceptable to Allaah.What is our role in forbidding such things from
occurring? Why do men insist on remaining useless and silent? Where is
their manhood?
Some women wear clothes that are manly. Also, we witness that even
very young girls are wearingrevealing clothes and are growing up while
being accustomed to this; it therefore becomes impossible to convince
them to change their minds, or to teach them chastity, when they
become older.
The high heels that women wear almost cause them to tumble. They also
affect the manner in which they walk as well as harm their spinal
cords and cause foot-joint pain.
One is truly grieved at the level towhich the Muslims have sunk with
regards to clothing. Those who wear clothing that is distinctly for
the disbelievers will have the following prophetic narration apply to
them:"He whoresembles a people will be with them )i.e. on the Day of
Resurrection(."
Those who feel proud of wearing such clothing and who walk arrogantly
will meet Allaah while He is Angry with them. Those who wear
fashionable clothing inorder for others to look at and pay attention
to, will have the following prophetic narration apply to them:"He who
wears a garment of fame in this life - Allaah will make him wear a
garment of humiliation on the Day of Resurrection, then He will set it
on fire."]Ibn Maajah[ Doing anything for the purpose of attracting
people's eyes and attention will fall under this narration; the
psychological punishment of it is humiliation, while the physical
punishment is fire.
Nowadays, people are obsessed with doing things that are out of the
ordinary; they are obsessed with doing things that are strange with
regards to their hairstyles, clothing, footwear, and even socks - to
the point thatsome wear two different coloured socks to stand out.
Many people wear clothes that have crosses on them, while
'Aa'ishahsaid: "We do not wear clothes that have crosses imprinted
upon them."
Likewise is the case with wearingclothes that have pictures of animate
objects upon them, in which case one must disfigure the image, leaving
no trace of thehead and what it contains )i.e. eyes, mouth and nose(.
Sufficient for us is the statement of Imaam Abu Al-Hasan
Al-Qasfaanregarding whether or not a Muslim woman can expose her
breasts, back or stomach to another woman, he said: "She is only
allowed to expose what she would expose to men who are
non-marriageable to her. This is due to the fact that the lusts and
desires of some women towards others are stimulated when they see such
areas exposed. Thus, a woman may only expose the places of adornment
on her hands and feet, regardless of whether or not the woman is
attractive."
Unfortunately, women nowadays wear garments that contain splits that
are up to their thighs, and sometimes even higher. This is something
that is resented by women who have a pure nature, and we are talking
about common women and not womenwith knowledge or students of
knowledge.
We witness how the enemies of Allaah, have spread nakedness by all
possible means, through sports, swimwear, jogging-wear, gymnastics,
and so on. In fact, the chairman of a football league was complaining
that the female footballers were not wearing seductive enough attire
whilst playing. They aim to spread corruption globally via athletics,
and this is why some female athletes have moved on to become movie
"stars".
Will we rise to face this? Will we stand for the truth? Will our
protective jealousy wake up and cry out loud? Will we begin checking
the clothes that we buy for our wives and daughters to ensure they do
not contradict Islamic teachings? When will we begin inspecting our
wives and daughters before they leave to attend wedding parties to
ensurethat what they are wearing will not cause the wrath of Allaah?
Or will we continue to hastily drop them off while never bothering to
check what they wear? Where is our jealousy? Where is our chastity?
Where is virtue? When will we adhere to the rulings of Allaah?