One of my WhatsApp groups took a shot of adrenaline today and came alive after a few days of quiet with a fascinating and long discussion about clothing and not from a fashionista point of view but rather a spiritual view.
It began, as these things do, with a message on a totally different topic. Someone shared a video with a scholar/preacher encouraging his audience to take an active part in their society/community and boost their civic engagement. A fine and noble goal and the video sat there unassumingly until someone else questioned the potential irony in the fact that the preacher was wearing a thawb - a garment typically associated with the modern Arab Middle East.
Aside from the question of whether the thawb is islamic or simply arabic (two distinct categorisations), the underlying question being posed was Is it better to wear 'islamic' clothing or 'contemporary' clothing? Simple enough question but from here the discussion simply blew up and so began a long multi-partisan talks covering various factors that each person thought were relevant and important. Points were made and evidences supplied along with hadith and scholarly opinions and even quotes from various texts.
It rapidly became clear that the main point of contention was borne out from that if we begin from the axiom that the way of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was the best way, it naturally follows that how he dressed is then the best way to dress. But as a man of his time, he dressed like the society around him. Modestly, yes, but in the style of his local culture. So it becomes a question of should Muslims dress literally like him or figuratively like him?
The discussion went on for several hours but the eventual residual conclusion was that really people should wear what they want. The explicit rules of clothing simply require modesty - anything after that is purely dependent on your purpose and intention. Either dress literally like the Prophet (pbuh) did and wear similar clothing to him because of your love for him or dress figuratively like the Prophet (pbuh) and wear contemporary clothing from your culture because of your love for him.
The essential fact in the decision making process is that as Muslims we love the Prophet (pbuh) and actions are by intention so what others might think of your clothing is a lesser concern so long as it's bringing you closer to Allah (God).
That said, in the world we live in today, it would be foolish to disregard the power of branding and the message it sends to your audience. There's probably a blogpost in this on its own but how you clothe yourself is very much part of your personal brand and if a simple change of clothing (that fits in with your beliefs) allows you to reach multiple audiences with your message then by all means make the most of that flexibility!
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