Dress Code from Quran Alone

Salaamun alaykum, dear readers!

The dress code for people as per the Quran alone can be determined if we approach the topic with full reliance on what the Quran alone says and no other source.

Steps of the Dress Code

Let’s start with the women. The first verse that gives instructions for the women’s dress code is 24:31, and it is to cover the genitals.

First Step: Cover the Genitals

The universal dress rule for women and men in the Quran is the coverage of the genitals, or “furooj” and “saw’at” in Arabic:

[7:26] O Children of Adam, We have certainly sent down upon you clothing to cover your genitals, and as decoration. But the clothing of reverence, that is better. That is among the signs of your Lord, so that they may remember.

[24:31] And say to the believing women that they should reduce from their sight, guard their genitals, and not disclose their adornment except whatever is obvious of it. And let them draw their headcovers over their “juyub” (necklines), and not disclose their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, the fathers of their husbands, their sons…

This verse (24:31) is commonly misinterpreted to mean that women must wear a khimar (headcover).

But logically, this verse does not say, “cover the head” or “wear a headcover”.

It is only saying that if women choose to wear a headcover, then it should be extended to cover the neck opening, or the neckline, of her top garment.

So, this verse only regulates how to use a headcover rather than mandates a headcover on everyone.

To give an example, the law says to wear your seatbelt when driving cars, but that doesn’t mean it is mandatory to drive a car, nor does it presuppose that everyone drives cars. The law simply modifies how to drive cars for those who choose to do so (by mandating seatbelt usage).

Or let’s say that someone says, “Sweeten your coffee with sugar.” This is not making it mandatory to have coffee, but it is telling people who drink coffee to sweeten their coffee with sugar.

Likewise, verse 24:31 says that a person must extend their headcover over the neckline of her top when wearing a headcover, but it does not say “you must wear headcovers”.

If God intended to make mandatory for Muslim women to cover their hair, He would have said “cover your hair”, or “wear a headcover” but God didn’t say that in the Quran.

Also, it is worth noting that the command to draw the headscarf over the neckline is not even an absolute command to cover the cleavage of a woman either.

If you choose to wear a headscarf, and you draw it over the neckline as is required by verse 24:31, then this would naturally lead to covering the cleavage.

But what about when you don’t choose to wear the headscarf, and the neckline of your top exposes the cleavage? The Quran is silent on that, thus it is left up to your preference.

What is the “Adornment” in 24:31?

Verse 24:31 says women should not disclose their adornment, except “ma zahara minha” (whatever is obvious of it).

This means a woman can show the body parts that they are obviously allowed to show according to the Quran.

If we accept the Quran’s guarantee that it is complete (6:115) and has the details of everything needed for guidance (12:111, 16:89, and 7:52), then logically, the body parts that the Quran does not specify covering are the body parts that can obviously be shown in public. If God wants any specific body part to be covered, the Quran would contain specific details mandating its coverage.

It’s like dietary permissions: any food not prohibited in the Quran is obviously permissible for consumption. Likewise, any body part not prohibited to cover in the Quran is obviously permissible to leave uncovered publicly, otherwise the Quran would have mentioned it.

So the question is: which body parts, or adornments, of a woman did the Quran specify to cover?

The only body part the Quran explicitly states to cover for all women is the genitals.

Therefore, all other body parts besides the genitals are adornments that can obviously be left uncovered. That includes hair, neck, arms, legs, abdomen, etc.

Those parts are not mandatory to cover up unless there are specific circumstances, which are mentioned in verse 33:59.

Final Step: Flexible Outer Garment Length, Protection from Harm

Let us analyze this verse, which contains the final step of the dress code for women:

[33:59] O you prophet, tell your spouses, your daughters, and the women of the believers to “yudneena” (lower) upon themselves of their “jalabib” (outer garments). That is nearer, that they be recognized, then not harmed; God has been Forgiving, Merciful.

So the Quran mandates an outer garment known as “jalabib” as the final step of the dress code. The term “jalabib” is the plural of “jilbab”.

It is commonly believed that jilbab only refers to a full-bodied outer garment, but that belief is not correct.

Verse 33:59 itself says that there can be long jilbabs and short jilbabs. We know this because the verse says women should “yudneena” (lower) their jilbabs, but does not give a specific length for exactly how much to lower it.

If the height of the jilbab can be lowered, then logically, the height of the jilbab can also be raised as well, thus indicating that jilbab is not a single type of garment with a single length. That means any length of upper-body clothing can be a jilbab, whether it is as short as a cropped top and sports bra, or as long as a dress.

The only stated requirement in this verse for how long the jilbab should be is that the length is sufficient for women to be “recognized, then not harmed“. In other words, the length of the jilbab should provide the bare minimum recognition that is necessary to protect yourself from harm.

There are two potential sources for harm: legal harm, physical harassment, and non-physical harassment.

Avoiding legal harm means avoiding any formal or unwritten dress violations. Some examples include the dress code as mandated by one’s employers and school uniform requirements. Some places don’t have a formal dress code, but there is unspoken agreement about what is inappropriate to wear (like wearing something other than a suit and tie at American, non-Muslim funerals).

Avoiding physical harassment means avoiding clothes that you personally find is likely to cause others to physically harass you.

Avoiding non-physical harassment is avoiding clothes that cause people to verbally harass you or make unwanted comments about you when they see you, or look at you in disrespectful ways.

Of course, it is worth noting that if you do not feel any emotional distress or discomfort from non-physical harassment due to your clothes, then it is not a source of harm. Some people are more sensitive, while for others, rude and unwanted comments do not cause significant emotional harm or sensitivity. The harm from non-physical harassment can come only from how it affects you mentally and emotionally.

What causes harm to someone changes from place to place, and person to person. For example, in places like North, South, and Central America, and Europe/Australia, wearing shorts and tank tops, and even cropped tops in public places (such as grocery stores, malls, some university campus grounds, etc.) is normalized and unlikely to cause the wearer to experience legal harm or harassment from others.

But in more conservative areas, however, more clothes is protective from legal harm and harassment. It can even save your life if you visit Sunni or Shia countries with strict dress code laws, for example.

The 2022 killing of Mahsa Amini in Iran occurred during detention by the Iranian police. She was detained for simply taking off her hijab in public, and she died from trauma to her head inflicted by the police (as per leaked medical reports and CT scans indicating severe head trauma, and eyewitness testimonies).

It is commonly believed that back then, in pre-Islamic Arabia, free women who didn’t wear a full-length outer garment was mistaken for slave women and harassed/mistreated in public, which was a highly unfortunate thing.

But we don’t live in the era of the Arab slave trade anymore, and the social dynamics of today is wildly different from place to place. Clothing or fashion that may have brought legal, physical, and verbal harm to a woman back then is different from what may cause similar harm to a woman today, therefore women today do not have to wear a full-length outer garment like the women during the time of the prophet did.

Therefore, the universal bare minimum coverage for women is to fully cover the genitals and wear some kind of outer top garment (verse 33:59 prohibits being topless), and the rest (including the length of her garments) is up to the woman given that she wears whatever is unlikely to cause any legal or physical and verbal harm for her personally.

Relaxing the Dress for Older Women

In verse 24:60, God states that there is no blame on menopausal women who aren’t expecting marriage anymore (whether because they are already married, or because they are single and no longer are looking for marriage) if they “yada’na thiyabahunna” (put aside or take off their clothes), provided that they don’t show their adornment (the genitals).

Meaning they can take off as much of their clothes as they wish as long as they are keeping the genitals covered, but it is better for them to refrain from doing that and stick to the same level of coverage as younger women.

The likely reason is why it is better to refrain from that is because the protection from harm in verse 33:59 has more priority than the freedom to wear less clothes in public.

[24:60] And the post-menstrual women who do not expect marriage, there thus is no blame upon them that they put aside their clothes, without displaying their adornment, but that they refrain is better for them; God is Hearing, Knowledgeable.

Applying the Dress Code in Practice

The dress code of a woman in the Quran is very flexible, so let us see what that looks like in practice.

Believe it or not, Muslim women ARE allowed to wear bikinis and bathing suit at any beach or pool only if it covers the genitals fully and it doesn’t cause any physical, verbal, visual, or legal harm to her personally.

The bikini top is one of the shortest jilbabs (outer garment) that exist, but is still a jilbab nonetheless since the Quran states that jilbab lengths are not fixed or constant.

Just don’t wear one in Iran or other places where it is illegal.

And for casual outdoor settings beyond the beach (like the park, or gym, or other places), a Muslim woman may feel free to wear crop tops, tank tops, shorts, and/or sports bras as outer garments if they want to, provided that she does not experience harm (whether legal, physical, visual, or verbal).

The same standard applies to digital settings such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and more; if the outfit does not violate social media guidelines and does not cause her to experience harm in real life, then it can be worn.

Men’s Dress Code

And for the men, there is no minimum or maximum dress code in the Quran besides covering up the genitals.

How much to cover is up to him, as long as it not seen as inappropriate for the setting and doesn’t cause him any social or legal harm, according to verses like 2:195, which says not to throw one’s self with their own hands into harm.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the dress code for men and women in the Quran is quite flexible. At the end of the day, it is God, and not people, who sets the boundaries of Islam, and those boundaries have been made clear in the Quran. Any flexibility that God has granted beyond that should be met with appreciation and gratitude.

Moreover, the amount of clothes that one wears doesn’t by itself make anyone a better worse Muslim.

The Quran states in verse 7:26 that even though clothes have been provided to provide genital covering, and for decoration, what is better than any piece of clothing is reverence, or taqwa, in Arabic.

This means that the amount of clothing one wears on their body is far less important for a Muslim in the sight of God than the content of one’s personality. A fully clothed person can be a much more insincere in his or her faith compared to someone who enjoys wearing T-shirts and shorts.

Quranic Warning: Appreciate Your Flexibility

It is an even bigger sin in the Quran to fabricate a prohibition and attribute it to God, both intentionally and unintentionally, than to take advantage of the flexibilities found in what God explicitly stated in the Quran.

Verse 5:101 tells people to not ask questions about things to which, if they knew the answer, would cause more distress for them.

[5:101] O you who have believed, do not ask about things which, if disclosed, would distress you. And if you ask about them when the Quran is being revealed, it will be disclosed to you. God has pardoned it, and God is Forgiving, Forbearing.

[5:102] Certainly, people before you have asked them, then they became disbelievers thereby.

One way that such answers will distress them is if they receive flexible guidelines but still proceeded to ask Muhammad for more and more restrictions to that flexibility until the added restrictions are something they are not happy with.

Verse 5:102 further warns that people before Muhammad have disbelieved after asking their prophet/messenger such questions and getting back inconvenient responses from God.

The Quran further warns that if people continued to ask prophet Muhammad these questions while the Quran is being revealed, they will get their answers revealed in the Quran. Once it’s revealed in the Quran, it will be too late to take it back if they don’t like it.

One example of this is the story of the cow in Surah 2, when God told the followers of Moses to slaughter a cow. They could have slaughtered any cow to fulfill the command, but they kept making Moses ask God for details and specifics, until they were made to slaughter a very specific kind of cow which was so beautiful that they almost were not going to do it.

And the distress warned of in 5:101 does not even require new revelation; if a person approaches the Quran’s flexible commands with a restrictive mindset, then they will impose unnecessary limits on themselves through their own interpretation, and they will later blame God if they are not happy with their own self-imposed limits.

Thus, the Quran provides strong lessons teaching that when God provides flexibility, He wants you to appreciate it and to trust that He means exactly what He tells you when He says something.