The Sunnat of Dressing

1. In Islam the dress of women and men is different. It is haraam for women to wear men’s clothes, and for men to wear women’s. This is absolutely forbidden. Nabi-Kareem (Salalahoalawasalam) referred to those who do this, saying “Allah curses such a people”.

2. Silk clothes are forbidden for men. Fabrics containing silk should therefore be avoided since they are haraam.

3. Women must not wear such thin fabric that their clothes become see-through. A dress which allows the body or figure to be seen is haraam. Once Asma came to see Hadhrat Aisha Siddeeqa (Radiallahanha) , the wife of the Prophet, wearing a thin dress of this sort. On account of this Aisha Siddeequa (Radiallahanha) said to her, “Go away and change your clothes, for this is not an appropriate dress for a lady. You cannot enter our house dressed this way.”

4. The definition of the Muslim dress is that it covers your body properly. That is, your satr should not be visible (the whole body except face, hands and feet for women, and from navel to knee for men).

5. Covering the satr properly means ensuring that the outline of your figure should not show. Islamic dress must thus be very loose.

6. Men must not wear gold, and here too it is haraam to perform salaat if doing so.

7. Men must cover their heads. The first class way is to use the Turban, and the second class way is to use the cap. If you want the first class of Jannah (Heaven) then wear the Turban. If you want the second class of Jannah then wear the cap, although it is not good to make this your habit. The Turban will get you the highest level, the cap the next, and finally, if you do not wear anything then you will get the lowest class, very close to Hell.

8. Women can wear any dress which covers their whole body except clothes which resemble the kaafir’s. For example, skirts or jeans are the dress of the kaafir and should not be worn. A women should wear proper Muslim clothes such as the shalwar-kameez, or a long dress and pyjama-bottom. These clothes should always be worn, both inside and outside the house. She should also wear a scarf to cover her head. When she goes out, she should wear the burqah (a full length, loose outer covering for women), which acts as a veil for her whole body. This is a must for women, and if they do not do this, then it is haraam and a very bad and sinful act. What will happen to such women? It is said in a Hadeeth that those women who do not cover their heads, or the parts of the body ordered to be covered by Allah, will be paraded naked in front of everybody on doomsday. Everyone will be watching them. Then all these women will be thrown into a well that will be full of fire and snakes and there they will be burned. Astaghfirullah.

9. The Prophet always preferred white clothes. That does not mean you cannot wear other colours - you can. But mostly you should wear white, especially when going to the mosque, or when praying. You are allowed to wear all colours. The exception is bright red, which is forbidden in Islam for men . Do not wear red since it is haraam and the Prophet does not like it. You can wear all other colours, including black.

10. The Holy Prophet (Salaal Laahu Alaihi Wa Salaam) also used to wear the Kurta (also known as kameez) - the long shirt reaching down to between the knees and ankles. It has no folded collar or cuffs like the European style shirt, and is worn with the top button open . This long Kurta is not like the prevalent Arab style. It is slit at the sides and has a straight cut. The sleeves reach to between the wrist and the palm. And to repeat, it should be white.

11. And underneath, the Prophet used to wear the ‘Tahmad’ or Dhoti (also known as lungi or sarong). But he also gave permission for us to wear pyjama style trousers, also known as shalwar. You can wear a straight, warm garment in the shape of trousers, but you should make sure it does not reach below the ankles. Nevertheless the best thing, if there is no reason not to, is to wear the tahmad, shalwar or pyjama, especially in the mosque. These are the best form of dress since they are the Prophet’s dress. You should try hard to practise wearing the tahmad when you come to the mosque or are in the house, since there is more blessing from Allah in it.

12. Finally, the Prophet used to wear the amaamah. We wear the amaamah because our Prophet said to wear the Amaamah, and his Sahaaba wore it too. Also, Rasoolullah (salalahoalawasalam) said that if you perform salaah wearing the Amaamah, you get 70 times more reward.

13. An example of the success of imitating the sunnah: At the time of Moosa there lived an impersonator. This person would imitate and caricature everything that Moosa did. He would copy his dress and his manner of speaking and the like. Moosa did his best to overlook this annoying behaviour. Some time later the impersonator died. In a dream Moosa was astonished to see this same person strolling around in the gardens of Paradise. On witnessing this, Moosa asked Allah: “Ya Allah, You are the One who has power over all things. I ask You why it is that someone who used to impersonate and imitate Your Nabi has been given a status in Paradise?” Allah replied: “O Moosa! What do you know? You are my beloved Nabi, a great Nabi. I do not allow that a person imitates my Nabi and then gets sent to the Hellfire.” Now just imagine the reward of imitating the Holy Prophet (Salaal laahu alaihi wa salaam).

14. There are some ettiquettes on how to get dressed. When you want to get changed, you should first say “Bismillahir-Rahmaanir-Raheem”. Now there are two positions for putting on garments. When you put on the lower garment (trouser/pyjama/shalwar), do so in a sitting position, not standing up. This should always be done, with the exception of the dhoti, since you cannot put this on while sitting. This rule applies to both men and women. When winding the turban, this too should be done standing up. If you do otherwise, it is stated in a Hadeeth that you will get a disease for which there is no cure. That is, if you knowingly do the reverse - putting on the Imamah while sitting down and the shalwar/pyjama while standing - then you will get an incurable disease. So always sit down when you put on the pyjama, and stand up when putting on the turban.

15. Also, always start from the right side when putting something on. This is the correct way. For example, put on a kurta with your right hand first, or a shalwar with your right leg first.

16. When you take off your clothes, then too you should say “Bismillahir-Rahmaanir-Raheem”. Why? Well obviously once you have taken off your clothes, you are going to be naked. It is stated in a Hadeeth that the Jinn and the shaytaan that are there in your room will go blind when you say “Bismillahir-Rahmaanir-Raheem”. They will therefore not see you naked and thus you will be saved from their gaze. How graceful Islam is, but we do not take care in these matters. We just quickly take off our clothes, thus letting shaytaan come and see. That is why we do bad things, why we are not good in attendance of salah with jamaat, why we are not regular in our salaah. We ourselves are like shaytaan, due to the fact that we are not performing our actions in the proper way. So always when you take off your clothes, say “Bismillahir-Rahmaanir-Raheem”.

17. Now when you have new clothes to wear, it is best to keep them to wear first on Jumu’ah. Start from a Jumu’ah when wearing a new pair of shoes, a new shirt, a new cap, a new Amaamah or new socks. Whatever clothing you have that is new, start wearing it from either Jumu’ah or from Eidain (Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha).

18. Next, be careful with your clothes once you have taken them off . Sometimes we take off our trousers and shirts and just cast them aside untidily - this is haraam. Nabi-e-Kareem (Salalahoalawasalam) said that if you leave your clothes like that, scattered here and there and not cared for, then the shaytaan comes and wears them. So how would you like it if a dirty shaytaan were to wear your coat - would you then be happy to wear it? How soiled that garment would be. For this reason a Muslim should, when taking off his clothes, hang them up nicely on hangers and put them away. Now when shaytaan wears something it becomes dirty, so when you then wear it to go for your prayer, how can you expect to get satisfaction in that prayer? That is why some people say “Oh, I pray five times, I do the Dhikr etc., but I still don’t feel right”. It is because they are not properly practising the Sunnah. Somewhere their practice is faulty and thus shaytaan encroaches on them. The Sunnah is a castle by which you can save yourself from shaytaan. So whenever you take off your clothes, keep them properly in their place, and fold them nicely in the corner or on hangers - and do so saying “Bismillah”.