Dress Like Your People

Dress Like The People Of Your Land …

1- Ibn Abi Dunya narrates:

عدي بن الفضل قال قال لي أيوباخذ نعلين على نحو حذو نعل رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال ففعلت فلبسها أياما ثم تركها فقلت له في ذلك فقال لم أر الناس يلبسونها

𝗨𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗯𝗶𝗻 𝗙𝗮𝗱𝗵𝗹 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱:

‘𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗺 𝗔𝘆𝘂𝗯 𝗮𝗹-𝗦𝗮𝗸𝗵𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗶 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲: ‘𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗹𝘀, 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗲𝘁, 𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗲 𝘂𝗽𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝗺.’𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝗺, 𝘀𝗼 𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳𝗳.𝗜 𝗲𝗻𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗱: ‘𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁.’

[‘Tawadu’ Wal Khumul’, p. 86].

2- Ibn Abi Shaybah narrates:

وقال حصين بن عبد الرحمن : كان زبيد اليامي يلبس برنسا ، قال : فسمعت إبراهيم النخعي عابه عليه ، قال : فقلت له : إن الناس كانوا يلبسونها ، قال : أجل ! ولكن قد فني من كان يلبسها ، فإن لبسها أحد اليوم شهروه وأشاروا إليه بالأصابع .

‘𝗔 𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗺 𝗜𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗮𝗹-𝗡𝗮𝗸𝗵𝗮𝗶’𝗶𝗶 𝗿𝗲𝗯𝘂𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱: ‘𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀!’𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗺 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱: ‘𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗱, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗼𝗻𝗲. 𝗜𝗳 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀.’

[‘Al-Musannaf’, 5/205].

It is important to dress like the people of your land, unless those dresses violate the guidelines of religion.

This is especially important for Du’aat who engage with the non-Muslims. If the dress-code you wear looks weird and abnormal to the people you’re engaging with – it creates another barrier. People will hesitate to approach you. They may think: if I become Muslim, I also have to dress like this, and all my friends/family will laugh at me. I don’t want to look weird.

The dress that looks normal to one nation, may look weird to other nations… this is normal… so wherever you go, dress like the people. You don’t want to stand out and be pointed at.Islam did not come with a uniform, the Prophet wore the clothes of his people, and other nations can do the same.

The Prophet even wore Roman and Persian dresses which were gifted to him.