Islamic Dress Code for Men – Major Elements to Consider

Although one needs to see the inner beauty and character of a person to reach some judgment about the person, however, this does not mean that one should ignore the physical appearance of a person at all. The way a person looks from the outside is that gives the first impression about what a person is like or from which place or school of thought a person belongs to.

When it comes to physical appearance in general and dressing in particular, Islam gives clear instructions about how both the genders dress, so that they do not break the rules of Islam and in their dressing there is modesty. In addition to women, Islam has also spoken about the way Muslim males should dress.

The lines below give the general Islamic instructions pertaining to male dressing.

Avoid The Haram Elements:

Although in Islam there is great freedom to Muslim in terms of wearing the kind of dress they like to wear, however, there are some limits which should not be crossed by a male Muslim. In this regard, a Muslim is not supposed to wear gold and silk in part of dressing or the whole attire. Regarding this, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said in His hadith:

“These two (gold and silk) are forbidden for the males of my ummah and permissible for the females.” (Ibn Majah)

From this hadith of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) it is clear that both silk and gold are Haram and impermissible to Muslim men, therefore, they need to avoid the dressing which includes these two elements. If these two elements are present in the dressing, then the dressing will be Haram and against the teaching of Islam. Other than that, Muslims can wear any dress made out of skin of animals, their fur or the stuff made out of them.

Avoid See-through Dresses:

The second thing that Muslim men need to avoid in their dressing is the see through dresses. When the dresses are see through the ultimate result of it wall will be people being able to see the Aurah (the mandatory covering region). Hence when the Aurah of a person becomes visible, it is counted in the category of sin. Therefore, in order to avoid any such situation, Muslim men should refrain from wearing see through garments, until and unless they are wearing some kind of undergarment that protects their Aurah.

Avoid Imitation:

It is narrated that once Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) saw Hazrat Ali wearing two garments that were dyed with safflower, seeing which He said:

“These are the garments of Kuffar, do not wear them.” (Muslim)

From this ayah it becomes clear that a Muslim is not supposed to copy the non-Muslims when it comes to wearing of dress.  The dress of a person is a part of his identity, therefore, when one starts copying the non-Muslims in dressing, it means that the person is prone to accepting their values as well and losing his own Muslim identity. Therefore, for this very reason, a Muslim must avoid imitating the non-Muslims with regards to the type and kind of dressing worn.

Avoid Women Dressing:

In addition to refraining from gold and silk, Islam also instructs its followers to avoid dressing like women. It is quite evident that there is a difference between the way women dress and the way men dress, therefore, to keep things simple and to avoid any kind of awkward situation, a Muslim must refrain from dressing like women. In this regard, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said in His hadith:

“Cursed be the men who imitate women and the women who imitate men.” (Bukhari)

Therefore, men must avoid imitating women in dressing and similarly women must avoid imitating men in their dressing. Checkout the Islamic dress code for Muslim Women.

Start From The Right:

In addition to the apparel, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has also spoken about the way a Muslim should start wearing a dress. In addition to starting wearing the dress with Bismillah (In the name of Allah) a Muslim must start wearing the dress from the right side. Regarding this, Prophet (PBUH) said in a hadith:

“When you get dressed and when you do wudoo, start on the right.” (Abu Dawood)

Hence, a Muslim must try wearing the dress with the right side first and then moving on to the left part of the attire.

Avoid Arrogance:

In the world of today, the dressing of a person has become a status symbol. Although Islam emphasizes on wearing clean and pleasant clothes and having modest dressing, however, it condemns the element of arrogance associated with it. Prophet (PBUH) said:

“No one will enter Paradise in whose heart is a mustard-seed of arrogance.”

The companion asked:

“What if a man likes his clothes to look nice and his shoes to look nice?”

Prophet (PBUH) replied:

“Allah is beautiful and loves beauty; arrogance means rejecting the truth and looking down on people.” (Muslim)

Therefore, if the dressing is worn with the objective of making oneself superior and to make other people think that they are inferior, then it is strongly prohibited in Islam, whereas, if it done for the purpose of looking beautiful, whilst being modest, then such dressing is allowed in Islam.

Above Ankle:

Another important thing that Muslim men need to ensure in their dressing is the fact that their lower garment should be above their ankles. It means that the pants part of the dress should be above ankles. In this regard, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said:

“Whatever of the lower garment is beneath the ankles is in the Fire.” (Bukhari)

This hadith of Prophet (PBUH) is specific to males, therefore, it is imperative that Muslim men avoid any such garment that hangs loose below the ankle length.

Conclusion:

In a nutshell, the aforementioned are the major elements that Muslim men must ensure in their dressing. The presence of these elements gives them a Muslim identity and makes sure that they are as Muslim in their appearance as they are at their hearts.