3.10.3 Toilet

The Holy Qur’an lays down a general rule on toilet as follows: “Say, who has prohibited the adornment (zinat) of Allah, which He has brought forth for His servants, and the good provisions?” (7:32). The word zinat, in this verse, has generally been understood to mean apparel, but it has really a wider significance including both the dress and make-up of a person. Zinat has further been explained as including spiritual adornment, such as knowledge and good beliefs; bodily adornment, such as strength and tallness of stature; and extrinsic adornment such as wealth and dignity (R.). A good toilet is recommended even when going to a mosque: “O children of Adam, attend to your adornment at every time of prayer” (7:31). The Holy Qur’an lays the greatest stress on cleanliness and literally gives it a place next to godliness when it says in one of the earliest revelations: “O thou who wrappest thyself up, arise and warn, and thy Lord do magnify, and thy garments do purify and uncleanness do shun” (74:1 -5). Great stress is laid on outward as well as on inward purity throughout the Holy Qur’an.

No limitations are placed upon the form or quality of clothing, either in the Holy Qur’an or in Hadith. The Holy Prophet is reported to have said: “Eat and drink and wear clothes and be charitable, not being extravagant or self-conceited” (Bu. 77:1). Ibn ‘Abbas said: “Eat what you like and wear what you like, so long as you avoid two things, extravagance and vanity” (ibid.). Thus Islam requires no particular dress. A man may choose what he eats and what he wears. The only thing required is that the clothes should be clean and good. Anything which may serve as a covering for the body is allowed. A simple sheet or trousers or shorts may serve the purpose, and so a shirt or a coat or a loose coat, so long as it covers the ‘aurah (the parts which it is necessary to cover). The ‘aurah is defined thus: “The part or parts of the person which it is indecent to expose; in a man, what is between the navel and the knee, and in a free woman, all the person except the face and the hands as far as the wrists” (LL., TA.). Silk is forbidden to men but women are permitted to wear it, which shows that silk is not discarded for men on account of any impurity attaching to it, but because the wearing of it is not in consonance with the hard life which men have to lead to earn their living, and also because it is a luxury, and the money thus wasted would be better spent on the amelioration of the condition of the poor. In some cases even men were allowed to wear silk. Thus, a Companion of the Holy Prophet is reported as wearing khazz, which is explained as being a cloth woven of wool and silk and also a cloth woven entirely of silk. The same is related of another Companion, who at the same time remarked that the Holy Prophet had said that on whomsoever God bestowed a favour, He also loved to see the effect of that favour on him. To ‘Abd al-Rahman and Zubair the wearing of silk was allowed on account of itching. Once a silk garment was presented to the Holy Prophet and he wore it and said his prayers in it; but afterwards he took it off, as though he did not like it. Those who wear long garments or trail the train of the garment, in order to be looked at or for vanity, are censured.

The make-up of a man or a woman, like his or her clothes, is a matter of choice. Very long hair, in the case of men, was not approved. There is an injunction to cut off the hair after the pilgrimage is over, and therefore there is no sin in keeping the hair cut. One may have his head shaved or keep his hair long or short. The Holy Prophet is himself reported to have worn his hair in different ways. Trimming of the beard and clipping short the moustaches is, however, recommended, as also the removal of superfluous hair under the navel or in the armpits. The use of perfumes is recommended in many hadith, especially on Fridays when there is an assemblage of people, and to women in particular. While women may make use of any ornaments they like, men are allowed only the wearing of a seal-ring, the Holy Prophet himself wearing one which was made of silver and was used to seal letters.