Question:
Assalamualaikum,
I want to follow the Sunnah in every aspect and I was really wondering what did the Prophet Muhammad SAW wear? What is the actual sunnah clothing? I saw a shirt of Imam Hussain Alaihis Salaam, and I always thought that a thobe was sunnah and how come in this tariqat people wear tunics and trousers?
Pls answer this Jazak’Allah
Answer:
Wa `alaykum salam
Guidance is not “what I think” but to follow the pious and their teachings.
The Companions have handed down a great many details about the Prophet’s (s) manner of dressing. In addition to these, the Prophet (s) gave advice to the believers about how they should dress.
One hadith reports the Prophet (s) as saying:
“No one who has even an atom’s-weight of pride in his heart will enter Paradise.” A man asked him, “What if he likes his clothes and shoes to look good?” (Meaning, is this counted as pride?) The Prophet (s) said: “Allah is beautiful and loves beauty. Pride means denying the truth and looking down on other people.” [Sahih Muslim]
The Prophet (s) regarded dressing well and looking good as a demonstration of the blessings of Allah:
“Allah loves to see the mark of His Benevolence on His creatures.” [al-Hakim and Tirmidhi]
Jundub ibn Makith (r) said:
“Whenever a delegation came to meet the Messenger of Allah, he would wear his best clothes and order his leading Companions to do likewise. I saw the Prophet (s) on the day that the delegation of Kindah came to meet him; he was wearing a Yemeni garment, and Abu Bakr and `Umar were dressed similarly.” [Tabaqat Hadith]
Another hadith relates:
“Eat what you like, and wear what you like provided that it is free from two things : extravagance and vainglory.” [Maulana Nomani’s Ma`arif al-hadith]
The Prophet (s) would warn any of his companions who were unkempt or failed to care for their appearance. `Ata ibn Yassar (r) relates:
“The Messenger of Allah was in the mosque, when a man with unkempt hair and an untidy beard came in. The Prophet (s) pointed to him, as if indicating to him that he should tidy up his hair and beard. The man went and did so, then returned. The Prophet (s) said, ‘Is this not better than that any one of you should come with unkempt hair?'” [Malik’s Muwatta]
According to the hadith narrated by one of the companions of the Prophet (s), the Prophet (s) told his Companions, when they were traveling to meet some brothers in faith:
“You are going to visit your brothers, so repair your saddles and make sure that you are dressed well, so that you will stand out among people like an adornment, for Allah does not love ugliness.” [Sunan Abu Dawud]
“The Prophet (s) once intended to go to his companions and so he put on his turban and combed his hair…He said: ‘Yes, Allah loves the actions of His servant who refines his body in order to meet his friends and brothers’.” [Ihya Ulum-Id-Din]
`Ubayd bin Khalid (r) reports that:
“I was once going to Madina. I heard a person from behind me say: ‘Wear your izar (loose waist wrapper) higher because it avoids physical and spiritual impurities.’ (The izar will remain cleaner and will not become dirty by being dragged on the ground.) When I turned to see who was talking I saw that it was Rasulullah (s).” [Shamaa-il Tirmidhi]
Salamah bin Akwa (ra) informs us that:
“`Uthmaan (r) wore his izar till the middle of his shin and said: ‘This is how my master Rasulullah (s) wore his izar.'” [Shamaa-il Tirmidhi]
Bukhari related in the chapter entitled “Wearing turbans,” that the Prophet (s) wore the turban and sometimes he wiped on top of it during ablution in order not to have to remove it. [Bukhari, Book of Ablution, hadith of Ja`far ibn `Amr’s father.]
He wore the turban (`amama), as mentioned in the following three hadiths:
Jabir (r) said: “The Prophet (s) entered Mecca on the Day of victory wearing a black turban and he loosened its two ends between his shoulders.” [Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi (hasan), Ibn Majah, and Nasa’i.]
Ja`far ibn `Amr narrates from his father: “I saw the Prophet on the pulpit wearing a black turban with the extremity loosened between his shoulder-blades.” [Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Nasa’i, and Ibn Majah.]
Abu Sa`id al-Khudri reported that when the Prophet got a new piece of garment, he would mention it, whether a turban or a shirt or a cloak, and then would say: “O Allah, all praise and thanks be to You. You have given me this garment. I seek from You its good and the good that is made of it and I seek Your refuge against its evil and the evil that it is made of.” {Allahumma, laka al-hamd, anta kasawtanih, as’aluka khayrahu wa khayra ma suni`a lahu, wa a`udhu bika min sharrihi wa sharri ma ma suni`a lah.} [Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi]
[Compiled from various websites, including sunnah.org]
Taher Siddiqui
