Islamic dress for men
1-9-2004 | IslamWeb
Question:
Is there a mandatory Islamic dress for men?
Answer:
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.
A person male or female, should cover the private parts (Awrah) acting according to the verse of Allah: {O Children of Adam! Take your adornment (by wearing your clean clothes), while praying and going round (the Tawâf of) the Ka'bah,….}[7:31].
Imam Al-Qurtubi said that this verse means that it is an obligation to cover the Awrah. Therefore, it is an obligation for men and women to cover their Awrah. The male clothing should be according to the following characteristics:
1) It is obligatory that the clothes cover the body from navel to knee, and it is recommended that the clothes cover the chest and the knees and spread downwards to the middle of the legs, and there is no harm to cover the whole legs but the clothes should not go below the ankles.
2) It should not be a see-through cloth that would reveal the Awrah.
3) It should not shape the Awrah.
4) It should not be made (wholly or partly) of silk or gold. It is reported in Sunan Abu Dawud, Nasa'e and in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad, that Ali, (Radiya Allahu Anhum) said that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) took a cloth of silk in his right hand and gold in his left hand and said: "These two are forbidden for the males of my Ummah."
5) It should not be imitating women. Bukhari reported in his Sahih that Ibn Abbas (Radiya Allahu Anhum) said: "The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) cursed men who imitate women, and cursed women who imitate men."
6) It should not imitate the Kufar, as the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said: "Whoever imitates a people, he is one of them." [reported by Abu Dawud in his Sunan, and Sheikh al- Albani classified it as sound and Sahih]
However, the best of clothes are the white clothes, as the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said: "Be clad in white clothes as this is the best of your clothes, and enshroud your dead people in them." [Reported by Ashab al-Sunan and Ahmad in his Musnad]
Allah knows best.