Islam: Combining Style with Modesty with Culture

Everyone is different. Every culture affects us. As Islam stretches across the globe, the interpretation of modesty and head covering shifts too. For those outside of Islam, this can be very confusing; why does my friend at work only wear a head scarf, but those ladies in the mall wear those long black robes? I can only imagine the stress it must be for a lady who trying to follow the Muslim teachings to interpret with honestly and humility: how must she really dress, in order to be modest? Ladies of all faiths, and of no faith, struggle with the same issues of course, because every culture is different, and yet modesty is always an issue, making the questions of "how large a head covering" and "should women wear pants" pertain to everyone.

The second two links in today's post deal with the specific Quranic scriptures dealing with modesty. The first link here is just an example of how modest ladies still want to be beautiful.

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"Malaysia: Islam combines style with modesty"
25-11-2008

The annual Islamic Fashion Festival is kicking off today in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The festival is all about reaching out to Muslim women and telling them that they can wear beautiful clothes and still be modest. ‘A modest woman is more sublime than a woman that reveals all’ comments Aisha Alam a well-dressed guest at the event. ‘More and more women in the region are discarding the less comfortable western styles and returning to the flowing Islamic way of dressing’. The organisers of the event are capitalising on this phenomena.

Currently the event attracts over 40 top designers from the region and as far away as Pakistan. The proceeds of the event go to worthwhile charities, mainly to alleviate hunger and poverty in the region. Guests will be treated to catwalk style displays albeit with the modest norms of Islam taken into consideration. Traditional Asian emphasis on beautiful fabrics will dominate and guests can expect to see dazzling silks used in creating the traditional Islamic women’s head coverings.

First photos found at TheHijablog at wordpress

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"The Jilbab and What Garments Can Substitute It"

AUTHOR: Imaam Muhammad Naasir-ud-Deen Al-Albaanee
SOURCE: Masaa'il Nisaa'iyyah Mukhtaarah (pg. 125-131)
Found at TurnToIslam.com forums

A short quote:

In brief, a khimaar covers less that a jilbaab while a jilbaab has a more ample range in terms of the parts that it covers. Also, a jilbaab is specific for only women. They were the ones who were ordered to wear it and not men. But as for the khimaar, then that is a garment that both men and women share in wearing. Even though a man is not obligated to wear it, regardless, it is a garment that both men and women partake in wearing, just like a shirt. In the same manner that a man wears a shirt to cover his ‘awrah – which is different from the ‘awrah of a woman – so does a woman. But her ‘awrah is ampler than the ‘awrah of a man.

This is a small part of a much longer article with further discussion and information.

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25.11.08, in "hegab-rehab" at blogspot, the author writes:
"My eyes are open"

i have been doing A LOT of reading lately (and less blogging) - mainly islamic issue related stuff - and everytime i come across sections from Quran and Hadith concerning Islamic Dress i get kinda "thinky" about my blog. Not about shutting it down - but about excluding some kind of things from my posts - like pants, etc.

Because the more proof i come across the more i think i should follow my heart and stick to Abaya-like clothing.

Read more of her thoughts on Quranic scripture and modest apparel, along with her other blog posts with pretty pictures, showing modest Muslim women various ways to wear hijab.

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I almost forgot - you might be interested in a blog entry by a simply modest blogger with photos of various women dressing modestly, from different backgrounds and cultures. "Plain Style."