Ruling on a woman wearing clothes whose fabric is specific to men

27-8-2015 | IslamWeb

Question:

Recently, women started to wear certain shirts that are made for women but are characterized by a certain kind of fabric called 'army'. It is a camouflaged fabric that is usually used by soldiers or hunters. The question is: Is wearing these clothes permissible or forbidden under the Sharee'ah?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

Ibn ‘Abbaas said: “The Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, cursed men who imitate women and women who imitate men.” [Al-Bukhari] Therefore, if the mentioned shirts are specific to men in the country where the questioner lives, then it is impermissible for women to wear them there because this constitutes forbidden imitation of men. However, if the shirts are tailored according to a womanly design, but it is only the fabric that is used by some men, then wearing them does not constitute imitation because clothes and shoes, in general, are made of the same material but it is the design that renders them specific to men or women. It should be known that the dress of a woman before non-Mahram (permanently unmarriageable) men should be concealing and loose and it should not be tight-fitting or transparent.

Allaah Knows best.