salamualaikum, ive been looking for some authentic sources which can guide us in how women should dress. Found a website which is v.good, maybe it will be helpful to the sisters? nwy its worthwhile reading....insha'allah we implement it.
Muslim Women's Dress in Accordance with the Qur'an and Sunnah
Allah the Exalted says in Surat an-Noor, ayah 31: And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their private parts and not show of their adornment except only that which is apparent, and draw their veils over their (necks and) bosoms and not reveal their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or their slaves, or male servants who lack vigor, or small children who have no knowledge of women's private parts. And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment. And turn you all to Allah in repentance, O believers, that you may be successful.
And He says in Surat al-Ahzab, ayah 59: Oh Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their outer garments close around them. That will be better, that they may be known and so not be bothered. And Allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful.
From these two ayat of the Noble Qur'an and from the authentic sources of guidance provided for us, we can derive the following principles of proper dress and adornment for Muslim women:
1. The outer garment worn in public must cover all of the body except the face and hands.
Surat an-Noor, ayah 31 (quoted above) contains a clear command that a woman's natural beauty and her adornment are to be concealed from strangers, except that which might show unintentionally (i.e. parts of the dress or ornaments) or which show as a matter of course because it is not prohibited that they be shown (i.e. the face and the hands).
Similarly, she should cover her hands if she is wearing nail polish or some other decoration or ornament. Furthermore, although it is permissible to leave the face uncovered in the presence of strangers, it is praiseworthy to cover it, as that was the practice of the wives of the Prophet (saws) according to authentic Hadith.
2. The outer garment must not be decorative itself or a means of beautification.
'Abdullah ibn 'Umar said: A woman came to the Messenger of Allah (saws) to give her pledge for Islam. He said: "I accept your pledge that you will not associate partners with Allah, nor steal, nor fornicate, nor kill your child, nor commit a sin between your arms and legs, nor wail over the dead, nor beautify and display yourself (tatabarraji) after the fashion of the pre-Islamic days." Ahmad
3. The outer garment must be thick and opaque so as to conceal the clothes worn under it, and loose so as to conceal the woman's form.
Proper covering cannot be achieved by wearing tight or transparent apparel. The Prophet (saws) said: "There will be, in the last days of my Ummah (nation), women who are dressed and undressed. Curse them: they are accursed."
Al-Tabarani Abu Hurairah related that the Prophet (saws) referred to: ...women who are naked even though they are wearing clothes, go astray and make others go astray, and they will not enter paradise nor smell its fragrance, although it can be smelled from afar.
The Prophet (saws) said: Belief and the sense of shame are tied together; if one is lost the other is lost." Al-Hakim
It should be noted that a woman should wear a loose over-garment for offering prayer. It should cover her whole body (as far as going out) and should be such that it conceals the shape of her arms and legs, as well as that of the rest of her body.
4. Muslim women are not to wear perfume in public.
Abu Musa narrated that the Prophet (saws) said: Any woman who wears perfume and passes by some people who smell her perfume is like one who commits fornication.
5. The clothes of Muslim women should not resemble men's clothes.
Abu Hurairah said that: The Messenger of Allah (saws) cursed the man who wears women's clothes and the woman who wears men's clothes.
Ibn Umar said that he heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: He is not of us who imitates women nor is he of us who imitates men."
Here Allah tells His Messenger to command the believing women -- especially his wives and daughters, because of their position of honor -- to draw their Jilbabs over their bodies, so that they will be distinct in their appearance from the women of the Jahiliyyah and from slave women. The Jilbab is a Rida', worn over the Khimar. This was the view of Ibn Mas`ud, `Ubaydah, Qatadah, Al-Hasan Al-Basri, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Ibrahim An-Nakha`i, `Ata' Al-Khurasani and others. It is like the Izar used today. Al-Jawhari said: "The Jilbab is the outer wrapper. `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas said that Allah commanded the believing women, when they went out of their houses for some need, to cover their faces from above their heads with the Jilbab, leaving only one eye showing. Muhammad bin Sirin said, "I asked `Ubaydah As-Salmani about the Ayah: يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِن جَلَـبِيبِهِنَّ (to draw their Jalabib over their bodies.) He covered his face and head, with just his left eye showing."
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