Can I Wear Beautiful Clothing for a Wedding Celebration? (Shafi’i)

Answered by Shaykh Abdurragmaan Khan

Question: Assalam alaykum,

Is there anything wrong in wearing beautiful clothing for an all female wedding celebration?

I bought a long dress with a high neck and sleeves to the elbows. It is more fitted than an abaya but not tight to the body. I would not be wearing a headscarf.

My husband has suggested that this sort of outfit is haram to wear in a female only environment (it is strictly no men and no photography).

Answer: Wa alaykum al-Salam

It would be permissible to wear such a dress at an only female gathering. The awrah between one Muslim female and another is the area between the navel and the knee; and between a Muslim female and a non-Muslim female is the entire body except those parts of the body that are usually exposed while doing household choirs. This effectively means that her hair, face, neck and lower arms and legs may be exposed. [Nayl al-Raja]

The challenge here is the stance of your husband and the desire of pleasing him. My suggestion is to explain to him that the dress is permissible according to the scholars. If he insists that he believes it to be haram, then ask him if his willing to acknowledge that perhaps difference of opinion exist and that you would like to act upon the opinion that permits it. If he still disagrees, then i believe it would not make sense to create unnecessary tension in your marriage over the wearing of a dress. This does not mean that every decision of difference in your marriage should be handled in this manner.

Should this be a recurring situation that you are always somehow coerced into an opinion he holds, even though scholars allow a practice you wish to implement, then i suggest you write to SeekersHub again for further and additional guidance.

May Allah bless you both

Wassalam
[Shaykh] Abdurragmaan Khan

Shaykh Abdurragmaan received ijazah ’ammah from various luminaries, including but not restricted to: Habib Umar ibn Hafiz—a personality who affected him greatly and who has changed his relationship with Allah, Maulana Yusuf Karaan—the former Mufti of Cape Town; Habib ‘Ali al-Mashhur—the current Mufti of Tarim; Habib ‘Umar al-Jaylani—the Shafi‘i Mufti of Makkah; Sayyid Ahmad bin Abi Bakr al-Hibshi; Habib Kadhim as-Saqqaf; Shaykh Mahmud Sa’id Mamduh; Maulana Abdul Hafiz al-Makki; Shaykh Ala ad-Din al-Afghani; Maulana Fazlur Rahman al-Azami and Shaykh Yahya al-Gawthani amongst others.