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Fatwa CenterSimplicity in dress is part of faith
Question
salam aleikum sheikh.. i have one question for u insha allah.. me and my husband are living in non muslim country..i have good hijab and good islamic clthing and now insha allah i have wanted for long time to start to wear niqab..but my husband he does not wear sunnah clothes and he does not have barb and everytime he goes out he want to look nice outside and sometimes he change clothes 3 or 4 times before going out.. but me i dont want to look nice outside, so outside im only wearing clothes in dark and neutral color like, brown, black and so on, for me its only important to make myself beautiful in the home for my husband not for the people outside.. my question now is that i feel that in marrriage man and woman must to suport each other when it comes to many things, even islam and i dont feel motivated or suppported to wear the niqab when my husband care so much about his clothes outside.. when i see other muslim couple out and the woman have niqab, then the husband have barb or sunnah clothes so people can see that he too is muslim and mash allah the couples look strong and happy together, suporting each other in deen and islam..is it wrong of me to want my husband too to look like one muslim acording to sunnah? and to suport me so that i have the courage to wear niqab insha allah and make allah happy of me
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.
There is no harm on you, dear sister, to have the desire that your husband would help you to obey Allaah, and be compatible, in his appearance, with the Sunnah of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. On the contrary, you will be rewarded for that, Allaah willing.
Undoubtedly, to shave the beard is against the guidance of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and is impermissible according to the opinion of the majority of scholars, in light of the authentic explicit Ahaadeeth in this respect which command men to let the beard grow. Ibn Hazm 
conveyed the consensus that cutting short the mustache and letting the beard grow is obligatory, and attested his argument with a number of Ahaadeeth in this regard.
In his book “Sharh Al-‘Umdah”, Ibn Taymiyyah said: “That a man shaves it (his beard) is like a woman shaving her head, and even worse than that, because it belongs to the forbidden Muthlah (i.e. alteration of Allaah’s creation), and so it is not permissible.”
He also said in “Al-Fataawa Al-Kubra”: “It is prohibited to shave the beard…”
So, it is due on you, dear sister, to advise your husband kindly and wisely, and choose the time which is the most suitable for that.
As regards your husband’s caring for his good appearance, then there is no harm on him to do so, as long as he, thereby, does not imitate the polytheists or the dissolute people. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was asked about the fact that the man may like his dress and shoes to be nice, thereupon he said: “Verily, Allaah is beautiful, and likes beauty.” [Muslim]
Nevertheless, your husband should be moderate in his care for that. Indeed, it is an act of exaggeration, as we see, that he changes his clothes thrice daily. It is part of Sunnah to follow a moderate course in clothing, as being humble in it is part of faith. In confirmation of that, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Simplicity (in dress) is part of faith.” [Ahmad, Abu Daawood and Ibn Maajah] According to scholars: He meant being modest in clothing and avoiding boasting of it. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 123187.
Allaah Knows best.
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