Clothing and Adornment

Clothing and Adornment

From the Islamic point of view, clothing has two purposes: to cover the body and to beautify the appearance. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala counts His bestowal of clothing and adornment upon human beings as one of His favors to mankind: O children of Adam! Verily, We have bestowed upon you clothing to cover your shame as well as to be an adornment to you.... (7:26) Whoever neglects either of these two aspects, covering or adornment, has deviated from the way of Islam toward the path of Satan. Accordingly, Allah warns people concerning both nakedness and neglect of good appearance, as these are snares of Satan, in the following verses: O children of Adam! Do not let Satan seduce in the same manner as he expelled your parents (Adam and Eve) from the Garden, stripping them of their raiment in order to expose their shame.... (7:27)
O children of Adam! Wear your beautiful apparel at every place of worship, and eat and drink, but do not be wasteful.... (7:31)

Islam has made it obligatory on Muslims to cover their private parts, which everyone naturally feels a sense of shame at exposing in order that they may be distinguished from the naked animals; in fact, it instructs them to avoid uncovering these parts of their bodies even when they are alone so that they may attain perfection in morals and religion.

Bahaz ibn Hakim, on the authority of his grandfather, reported the latter as saying: I asked, 'O Messenger of Allah! What should we conceal and what can we show of our private parts?' He replied, 'Let no one see them except your wife or your bondwoman.' I then asked, 'What if some people live together (e.g., during travel, or camping)?' He replied, 'If you can manage it, try not to let anyone see them ' I then said, 'And what if no one is present (meaning if one is alone)?' He said, 'Allah Tabarak wa Ta'ala is most deserving of your modesty.' (Reported by Ahmad, Abu Daoud, al-Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah.)