Hijab For Men... To veil or not to veil?

Asalam waliykum, 

**Excuse the title, I am not promoting mean to wear the headscarf in this post.**

One of the biggest misconception about Islam is in regards to Hijab. In this post I will be focusing more on the clothing for men. We are forever hearing and read about the Hijab of the woman in the media, in the blogging world, you tube etc. I have hardly come across anyone speak about the Hijab for men. This is a great injustice being done here, Islam is about equity and although Hijab may not look exactly the same for men as it does for women, they still have to wear another form of hijab which is Fard/obligatory for them.

Above is just a few images of how Muslim men dress in these "modern" times. Skinny jeans, low rise jeans, tight, straight leg jeans/trousers/pants etc. Removal of the beard, or making fancy patterns in the beard, Wearing short, shorts. Dragging ones garment on the floor below the ankle etc. All of these go against the regulations of Hijab for men. It makes me laugh and also angers me to see the hypocrisy you have a young man lecturing sisters on hijab and dare I say niqab, and looking at this brother, he is wearing tight trousers with a tight t-shirt or shirt tucked into his trousers, exposing his awrah, and the garment is dragging on the floor and he has no beard! Authobillahi... This is not Islam. 

If you are in Speedos, or wearing short shorts, or working out in the gym that is mixed and your wife is at home, and is a Muslimah who wears full Niqab and jilbab then you do not deserve her brother. There should be no doubt in anyone's mind about the Hijab for men. Just like the Hijab of women our Prophet Muahmmed (SWT) has instructed men what needs to be covered and in what manner.The `awrah of a man is between the navel and the knee. This is the area that has to be covered.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “What is below his navel to his knee is his `awrah.” [Musnad Ahmad (6756), Sunan al-Dâraqutnî (1/230), and Sunan al-Bayhaqî (2/229)] 

Both Shu`ayb al-Arna`ût and al-Albânî declare this hadîth to have a good (hasan) chain of transmission. 

The Prophet said on the authority of Ibn `Umar: "Whoso resembles a people in appearance, he is one of them." [Narrated by Abu Dawud (Libas) and Ahmad (2:50, 2:92) with a chain which has some weakness according to Sakhawi in al- Maqasid al-hasana, however he states that its authenticity is verified by other narrations. Also narrated by Ibn Abi Shayba in his Musannaf (5:313), Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Bari 10:274 [Dar al-Fikr ed.], and Ibn Kathir in his Tafsir (8:53). `Iraqi said its chain is sound (sahih). al-Bazzar also relates it through Hudhayfa and Abu Hurayra, Abu Nu`aym through Anas, and al-Quda`i relates it through Tawus, a chain which Ibn Hibban declared sahih. Ibn Taymiyya in his Iqtida' al-siratal- mustaqim (p. 82) calls Abu Dawud's and Ahmad's chain "a good chain."] 

Brothers should think with practicality in mind as well as modesty. You will be praying 5 times a day and it is no good wearing a short tunic, vest, t-shirt or shirt that sits on top of your trousers. So that when you move into ruku and sujood your awrah is exposed. Once this happens the Salaht is invalid and one must repeat it, the same applies to both men and women. 

Reported Muhammad Jahsh, "The Messenger of Allah, upon whom be peace, passed by Ma'mar while his thighs were uncovered. He said, to him, 'O Ma'mar, cover your thighs, for they are (part of the) 'aurah." This is related by Ahmad, al-Hakim and al-Bukhari in Tareekh and in mu'allaq form in his Sahih.

Reported Jurhad, "The Messenger of Allah passed by me when the cloak I was wearing did not cover my thigh. He said, 'Cover your thigh, for it (is part of the) 'aurah." This is related by Ahmad, Abu Dawud and at-Tirmidhi, who called it hassan, and by al-Bukhari in mu'allaq form in the Sahih

Many argue and have said to me that wearing the middle eastern dress is not their custom and they should wear their cultural clothes. I could not agree more and from basic research I did online and observations made while in a mixed Muslim community I have seen many forms of acceptable Hijab for men from different cultures. As long as the garment being worn covers the awrah from navel to knee then In Sha Allah it is fine to wear. 

I want to show some example of clothing worn by men from different cultures. The first is clothing of the Moroccans who are from the south, and also worn in many North African countries, Mauritian etc.
Long, but not dragging on the floor and above the ankle, loose, and modest. 

Above are examples from Asia, Indonesia  While in Saudia Arabia I was able to see so many people from all over the world. Men from Yemen  Sri-Lanka, India, Indonesia tend to wear an izar type garment like a skirt (Top left) That they wrap around their waist.
Middle eastern Arab, as well as many North African men like to wear an Abaya/kaftan that is simple. Pattern and material vary from country to country, but basically same long garment some with sleeves some without that come down to the ankle and some are shorter then this. 

The Prophet (saws) said, "Whoever cannot get an Izar, can wear trousers, and whoever cannot wear sandals can wear Khuffs." Bukhari: 7.695 (Also 7.744) Narrated Ibn Abbas.

Even in the Far east traditional dress for men usually consists of a mid length tunic with wide legged Trousers. 

The Image on the right shows traditional Afghan clothing for men, tunic with seroual/Harem style pants. The seroual is worn by many cultures, they are extremely wide trousers, that are loose from top to bottom. 

On the Left is the modern take of the seroual worn by men. Traditionally men wear these under their abaya, kaftan or thobe. The ones on the right look more like the traditional ones I have seen in Morocco. They stop way above the Ankle and are loose and modest. 

Even in most African countries, the attire worn for men consists of a long tunic and trousers. I am not sure what it is called in these countries, but in Morocco we call it a Jabador (Shown on the right). 

They are modest and found in a lot of countries both in Asian culture, African, Far east, and Arab. 

These are Djellabas, a variation, mainly worn in Morocco and Algeria. Alhamdulillah I have seen many brothers who are not Moroccan in the UK wearing these. In Maghreb/Morocco the men would wear this on top of their house clothes or their nice clothes when going out and visiting people. It is an outer garment like a coat. Underneath a Jabadore is worn, or an abaya or shirt and trousers. 

This has to be my favourite out of all the garments, the most modest and simple garment for men.

There are many online stores that sell modern takes of the garments I have shown you above, and it is becoming more popular with Muslims again, Alhamdulillah. If you look at most cultures you will find that at some point men used to dress with modesty and you do not have to dress like an "Arab" to wear hijab. If you are Asian, then their is the shalwar and khamis aka seroual and khemis. If you are African then there is the Dishdash, boubou, Djellaba, the tunic, the jabador etc, hopefully you get my point. 

Wearing these items of dress that the Prophet SAW himself liked and urged us (men) to wear is something that we should also like, we should try revive the Sunnah. Regardless of small cultural variations most of the clothing above is similar to what the Prophet SAW and the righteous predecessors wore. 

Just as women have rules to the types of clothing they can wear, so do men:

- Men should wear their best clothes for prayer and when attending the mosque

- Clothes must be kept clean

- The awrah as instructed by the Prophet SAW must always be covered, even in front of other men

- Hem your trousers so they are above the ankle

- clothing should not have images of animals/people or other unlawful things on it

- Maintain the beard, and do not remove it

It would be great if a Muslimah or a Muslim brother would make a video on this topic and post it on YouTube. I know many will be thinking this is not a big issue, there are more important things pertaining to deen. Well my answer is yes and no. It is should not be a big thing, just as Hijab for women should not be a big thing and we should not spend countless hours trying to prove Hijab is fard. It should be something easily accepted and practiced, but yes it is not a big deal and people should just do it and let that be the end of that.
I also want to remind everyone that Muslim identity is something the Prophet SAW commanded us to have, an identity that is known to the non Muslims. When someone looks at you they should know you are Muslim from your dress/appearance, and your conduct. 

May Allah make it easy for our brothers and sisters in Islam to adopt an Islamic identity both internally and external. Ameen.

Jazaka Allah khier for reading. Feel free to re-post  share, like and If you are not already following the blog please follow for similar blog posts in the future, In sha Allah. 

Wasalam -x-