Special Guidelines Concerning Dress and Appearance

By Hadrat Maulana Abrarul Haq Saheb

My respected brother! I wish to draw your attention to a specific matter. We have testified that Allah Ta'ala is the One whom we worship. In other words this means that there is no one greater than Him. He is our Master, our Ruler, the Ruler of all rulers. In fact, He is the King of kings. Since Allah Ta'ala is our Master, Ruler and our King; then we are His slaves, servants, and subjects. Every department has its own uniform, appearance and mode of dress which distinguishes one from the other. Look at the person working for the police department or the post office. Every one recognises him from a distance. On seeing the post man approaching, everyone turns towards him thinking that if he does not bring us any money, then there's the hope of receiving a letter. On seeing the police man, everyone becomes scared and hopes that nothing is amiss and wishes that he does not turn his attention towards him. These are all effects of clothing and appearance. If any worker does not wear the uniform that is required of his work place, he will be regarded as an offender and dismissed from his job. In the same way, Allah Ta'ala has specified a special type of dress for His obedient and dutiful servants, i.e. for the Muslims. By wearing such type of clothing, fear and respect is put into the hearts of others. By wearing anything contrary to this, the Muslim becomes disliked and detestable in the eyes of Allah Ta'ala. In fact he is disgraced in the eyes of Allah Ta'ala. The result of this is that his respect and self-honour gets wiped out and people also begin to regard him as despicable and disgraceful, as is evident today. To appear and dress strictly according to the Shariah, is therefore not only our duty, but we are also responsible for our family members. Teach your family members the following matters with regards to their dress and appearance, so that the children can be made to adhere to the dress and appearance of the Shariah from the very beginning. Men are prohibited to cover their ankles. Special care has to be taken in this regard when wearing trousers. It is also prohibited to expose the knees. Therefore, one should not wear anything that is above the knees. One should not adopt the clothing and appearance which is associated with the kuffaar or sinners. That is, by adopting such a type of appearance or clothing whereby someone else may feel that he is identifying with the clothing and appearance of a particular group or people. For example, to have western hair styles, to wear caps, coats and western style trousers, to have meals while sitting on chairs, to clip the beard when it is less than the length of one fist, or to shave off the beard completely. All these things are such, that it is necessary for every Muslim to abstain from them. Just as it is necessary for a police-man who does something wrong to seek pardon for his own good and his promotion; it is also necessary on every Muslim to repent for any wrong committed, so that he may be successful and rewarded. He should put his dress and appearance in order and choose the Islamic mode of dress for the future. One should ponder over the fact that just as he would detest wearing the scarf of a Muslim sister, how can he not detest adopting the mode of dress and appearance of the kuffaar and transgressors!!! If this is our condition, then we should understand well that we do not have a proper sense in our heart, and that it is gone sick. Just as a person cannot perceive the stink of filth, we feel that there's something wrong with his senses. It is therefore necessary to get this cured. The cure for this is that we should go and sit in the company of the pious, listen to their talks, offer Salaat with Jamaat, and when the kitaab is read in the musjid we should listen to it. In this way our heart will become sound, and we will begin to dislike evil deeds.