Women an important functional part of society holds an important position in Islam too. That is why Islam has prescribed a dress code for its believer women. Their natural delicacy and emotional personality makes them more prone to threats from society. ALLAH subahana hu wa tala has created her in such a fashion that she encompasses kindness, sweetness, tolerance, love, and beauty. As a figurine of beauty and delicacy, the dress code of a Muslim is kept modest. Having modest attire can non verbally communicate with others about how to deal with her. We can not stop the evil stares, but we can at least do something to provide them with minimum material to stare at.
Modern societies do not understand this fact. Every coming day we observe some new cuts and fashions in dressing, which in contrast to the actual function of clothing, are involved in exposing the body more. Cloth is meant to cover the body, but sadly we use it to nude it more to make the body sexually attractive. So, the Dress code defined by our modern societies makes me think as if there is no other purpose left on the planet for humans else sex! So, it’s more important to observe the modest dress code of a Muslim these days.
Islam being a religion of nature has defined a very diffident and modest dress code of a Muslim. She is ordered to cover her body. HOW ??? It’s explained in the points below.
How To Cover Body: Dress Code of A Muslimah
- Her dress must cover her body adequately. now what is adequate??? it’s pretty fairly explained in Quran and Hadeeth. The entire body should be covered except the hands and face. Because These parts must never be exposed to any other person (except in case of genuine need e.g. medical treatment)
- In addition, the cloth must be neither see-through nor tight-fitting, as it loses the significance of covering the body.
- Be care full, dress code of a Muslim must avoid; showing off, arrogance, and self-indulgence. One Hadith states
“Eat what you feel like and wear what you feel like. But avoid two things: extravagance and arrogance.”
- Her dress should provide her adornment complying with simplicity. The essential requirement is that their dress should identify them as respectable ladies who would be honored not harassed. Additionally, hijab rules aim at protecting them from the gaze of other men.
- The dress code of a Muslim must depict her religious identity also. Every culture and religion has certain dress norms. So, any similarity with followers of other religions must be avoided.
Opinions about Hijab:
Nowadays there are different opinions about hijab among different schools of thought in Islam. However, Hijaab was ordained compulsory within 3AH or 5AH. The Holy Quran contains seven verses altogether concerning Hijaab, three of these are featured within the surah Noor and four in surah Ahzaab.
The philosophy behind what is commonly called hijab – Islamic modest dress – is rooted in the concept of guarding one’s senses against anything that may lessen one’s innocence. Imam ‘Ali, the cousin, and son-in-law of the Prophet of Islam (may peace be upon him and his family), said,
“The eye is the spy of the hearts and the messenger of the intellect; therefore lower your gaze from whatever is not appropriate to your faith…”
In the modern world, our senses are bombarded from all directions with a plethora of sights, sounds, and smells. So, Islam teaches us to control what our senses are exposed to since our experiences affect us externally as well as spiritually.
A smell of perfume may call to mind a distant memory of one’s grandmother; the sound of fireworks may startle and bring forth an image of war; And the sight of a beautiful woman in a revealing dress may bring feelings of unwanted and inappropriate arousal. So dear Musliamh! this dress code is defined for your benefit. If you keep your valuables presented in the street and someone steals them, a thief must not be blamed for theft! it was you who got careless! guard your adornment and chastity, it’s your duty.
May ALLAH help us to follow the right path of Islam and help us control our unholy desires. Ameen.