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Islam transcends culture and language. It is a common misconception amongst muslims and non-muslims alike to associate a particular dress-code for Islam as generally found in Christian, Jewish, and Hindu faiths. There are no altar boys in Islam, or priests, or rabbis, or nuns i.e. there are no religious hierarchies and subsequently no "religious dress-codes" in particular. Most Muslims living in Islamic countries tend to confuse their national dress as Islamic dress. We must also understand that Muslims have "Sunday Church" every day of the week five times a day, which is more appropriately called as Salat or Prayer in Islam. There are again no particular dress-codes while performing these obligatory five-times a day Salat. Because of the timings of the school the students need only to perform the Zuhr Salat in school and they do so in the same uniform they are wearing. However those students who are above the age of 7 and are wearing shorts that do not cover fully their knees cannot perform their prayers. It is for this reason that most schools tend to prefer trousers over shorts as their prescribed school uniform for the students. No specific clothing is required for worship at all as long as it follows the following mentioned guidelines, are clean, and pleasing to the eye.
Islam transcends culture and language. It is a common misconception amongst muslims and non-muslims alike to associate a particular dress-code for Islam as generally found in Christian, Jewish, and Hindu faiths. There are no altar boys in Islam, or priests, or rabbis, or nuns i.e. there are no religious hierarchies and subsequently no "religious dress-codes" in particular.
Most Muslims living in Islamic countries tend to confuse their national dress as Islamic dress.
We must also understand that Muslims have "Sunday Church" every day of the week five times a day, which is more appropriately called as Salat or Prayer in Islam. There are again no particular dress-codes while performing these obligatory five-times a day Salat. No specific clothing is required for worship at all as long as it follows the following mentioned guidelines, are clean, and pleasing to the eye. The five-times-a-day prayer rituals, although performed in ordinary street garb, must always be without shoes.
Because of the timings of the school the students need only to perform the Zuhr Salat in school and they do so in the same uniform they are wearing. However those students who are above the age of 7 and are wearing shorts that do not cover fully their knees cannot perform their prayers. It is for this reason that most schools tend to prefer trousers over shorts as their prescribed school uniform for the students.
The Islamic fashion sense is strongly derived from the concept of modesty, humility and simplicity and therefore does not sponsor styles that invoke or suggest sexual or shameless taste. Covering up the head and body is seen by Muslims as an act of humility and simplicity instead of subjugation or oppression as commondly misunderstood by the West especially in the cases of girls and women. Westerners might ask why men are not subjected to much less restrictive standards of modesty. Westerners also note that in some Muslim countries, religious police enforce these standards, sometimes with considerable violence on young women who may not accept the standards set by the religious authorities. There may be an elenent of misunderstanding here among Westeners, but we also believe that there are fundamental differences between islamic and Western standards and outlook both as to what constitutes acceptable standards of modesty as well as the desirability of personal freedom.
Many Islamic scholars, almost all men, have written a great length about clothing, especially women's clothing. The Koran which od course is the ultimate authority in Islam, comments only briefly on clothing. About the women clothing the Koran says : "And tell the believing women to subdue their eyes, and maintain their chastity. They shall not reveal any parts of their bodies, except that which is necessary. They shall cover their chests, and shall not relax this code in the presence of other than their husbands, their fathers, the fathers of their husbands, their sons, the sons of their husbands, their brothers, the sons of their brothers, the sons of their sisters, other women, the male servants or employees whose sexual drive has been nullified, or the children who have not reached puberty" (24:31).
The Koran don't mention a veil covering the face. However this tradition was introduced in many places.
About modesty rules, Koran makes a difference between adults and "children who have not reached puberty". Traditionally in some Islamic communities the little children have no rules about clothing and go usually naked. This was more common in rural communities. It is als observable in modern times when we see younger children, even in conservative Muslim countries, wearing Western dress.
Islam only outlines a moral and ethical guidelines to direct Muslims when adopting any dress-code. It is therefore important to realize that western clothing, or any cultural/national clothing whether it be British, or Scottish, or French, or African, or American, or Indian, or Chinese, or Finnish, or Danish, etc can be Islamic--if--the following guidelines are adhered to.
1. Clothes should cover the Awrah of both men and women. Awrah are the parts of the body that are not supposed to be exposed to others. The Awrah of men is from the navel to the knee whereas the awrah of women is the entire body except the face, the hands, and the feet.
2. Clothes should not be so tight that it reveals the figure of the body.
3. Clothes should not be transparent that you can see through it.
4. Clothes should not resemble the religious clothing of a non-muslim i.e. a Muslim cannot wear a cross, or a jewish cap, or look like a priest, or a nun etc which are specific religious symbols of non-muslim faiths.
5. Men cannot wear the clothes of women and no woman can wear the clothes of men which are distinctly relevent to specific gender.
6. Men are not allowed to wear Silk or gold embroidered clothes.
If the Awrah is covered and the above guidelines are met then the American Jeans, the Scottish Kilt or the British Suit is as Islamic a dress-code as a Saudi Arabian ubaya/abaya and a Pakistani kurta shalwar.
These are rather unknown facts for majority of muslims and non-muslims which have given rise to this misgiven Islam vs West phenomenon. A Pakistani reader writes, "Islam does not seek to impose its brand of culture in any country. It only wants its moral guidelines to prevail for the good of the humanity at large." HBC is unsure we agree with this. It seems to me that some Islamic regimes do impose a "brand of culture", especially when they are in a majority. Regimes such as the former Taliband in Afghanistan, Iran, and Saudi Arabia have very definite ideas about how people should dress and enforce those standards with considerable force. And even in more moderate Muslim countries, there can be severe consequences when individual defy communinity standards.
Although the fundamentalists want to give the idea that Islam is a "monolithic" religion, there are many differences within the Muslim umunna. These differences involve many elements, including clothing--especially women's clothing and dress code. For example, the traditional clothing of Bangladesh women is the sari. They cover their heads with an head scarf, but have the arms bare. The conservative Saudi kingdom insists on the all enveloping black abaya. The Burqa or similar garment is worn in areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. White it covers the entire body except the hands, the treatment of the facial area can vary. And depebding on local custims, color is permitted. Perhaps the most extreme divergence from the conservative Islamic dress code is the Afar people (Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti), interestingly located very near Saudi Arabia. The Afar people were converted to Islam (10th century). The married women wear a black head scarf, but they go bare-breasted. Certainly you cannot find something similar among Arab peoples, however the women's attitude is not the same everywhere. A reader writes, "I had a layover in the international airport of Casablanca, Morocco (June 2009). There was a young Muslim mother waiting for her flight in the airport. She wore the hijab, but at once she raised her blouse and started to breast-feed her baby without any problem."
A variety of garments are worn in the Muslim world. Western dress is widely worn in most countrues, but there are also traditional garments that have either a national or religious base. This varies sharply for men and women. While in some cases religiously based, these garments are not specified in the Koran--the central basis for Uslamuc law. Some of these garments involve extreme full body coverings. Other farments are less extreme , but in all cases cover the head. There are several different female gatments, the popularity varying from country to country. Some of these garments have caused some countries in the West and some countries have banned garments covering the face. In other countries establishments like banks have banned the garments as well as offices like deparments of motor vehicles when taking identity photographs. Islamic activists say the garments are the right of the individuals to express their identity. Others say that the garmrnts are pasrt of the generalized Islamic supression of women.
The Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam after Kalima i.e. a proclamation that there is no one worthy of worship except God (Allah) and that Muhammad is His Final Messenger/Prophet, Salat (5 times/day obligatory prayers), Fasting (Once in the month of Ramadan), and Zakat (Charity). Hajj is the largest annual social gathering in the world where people from all walks of life, and race, color, and culture makes a pilgramage to the Holy city of Mecca to perform specific religious rites in order to get more nearer and dearer to God Almighty. The dress-code for Hajj is particularly of great interest. Muslims shed all signs of their wealth and societal distinctions by donning a clothing known as Ihram. Ihram consists of one piece of cloth (izar) that is wrapped around the midriff to cover the body from navel to mid-calves or lower while the other (rida) is draped around the pilgrims shoulders to cover the upper body. The wisdom behind this most unique dress-code is to eliminate inequality between people. Islam does not approve of wealth, race, color, language, caste, creed, or sex as tools for judging who is "superior" or "better" than the other as is so in the case of Western civilizations where the wealthy are considered to be better than poor.
In fact, in Islam, both the King and the pauper, the young and the old, the rich and the poor, etc are all equal in the sight of Allah Almight (God). The only criterion for a person to be superior than another is on account of his taqwa or God-consciousness or piety. The more pious you, the higher in ranking you are in the sight of Allah irrespective whether you are poor, black, or old. The Ihram signifies this value abundantly as no one can differentiate between the king and the begger during hajj as everybody is wearing the same Ihram.
A British reader writes, "In Kuwaıt the clothing worn by women was explained as a way to keep safe when walking on the street. A more knowldable male explained the history of female dress codes. It was a way for them to be private when they went to take ablutions in the evening."
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