Khutba: The Importance of Dressing Well and Looking Good in Islam (Audio and Text)

Thanksgiving is one of the forms of worship, as we show our gratitude to Allah for that which He has not given and in this way He increases it for us.
As Allah says in the Qur’an:

If you are grateful, I will give you even more.
(14:7)

One way to show our gratitude is by being generous with what Allah has not given, by being generous to ourselves and to others.
Part of being generous to others is looking good, dressing appropriately, being clean, groomed, and scented.
This makes those who see us happy and in this way they become a sadaqa.

Do not despise any good deeds, even receiving your brother with a smiling face.
(Muslim)

A very important part of Islam is to practice proper hygiene and take care of our appearance as a courtesy to Allah, to ourselves and to others.
This is one of the reasons why the Muslim keeps a good appearance, why he wears perfume, why he shows a smiling countenance to his brother: for all this gladdens the heart of the one who perceives it and in this way it becomes a sadaqa that we give.

Another reason is because by doing so we honour and dignify that which Allah has given us, in the best way possible, and in this way we show our gratitude for the gifts that Allah has given us, the first of which is to bring us to life and give us this perfect form. Allah says in the Qur’an:

Truly we create man in the best harmony (95:4)

Allah has created us in the best way, with the best harmony, external and internal, and this should be reason enough for us not to spoil this harmony, but to honor and dignify it.
And in doing so, this gives dignity to ourselves before Allah.

Another reason for this is that we live in a society in which Muslims are a minority, and so each individual represents that minority.
That is, each and every one of us, when we walk down the street, when we speak, when we work, people are not only going to judge us as individuals, but they are going to judge us as Muslims, as representatives of Islam.

And the reality is that we live in a society in which extreme importance is given to what is apparent, to what is seen, and in which the internal is relegated to the background.
Most people judge people and issues by what they see, even if only superficially.
And although we have to be aware of this and not fall into the same thing, since we know that a man is much more than his appearance and that every matter has a greater depth and impact than it may seem, we also have to be aware that we live in this moment and in this place. and that is why we must be a good image of Islam both externally and internally.

Al-Ghazali said: And this goal (to be neat and well-dressed) is an obligation for every person of knowledge who is tasked with calling the creation to Allah, may He be exalted, i.e., to take care of his outward appearance so as not to make people avoid him.

This is especially important for those who represent Islam in any official capacity, such as the president of a community, the Imam, a scholar, and others.
But it’s just as important to all of us, because of what we’ve mentioned before.

The general rule is that we should dress appropriately and tastefully, but without pretending to appear, and be neat and perfumed, whenever possible, especially when we go to a public place or to the mosque: Allah says in the Qur’an:

Children of Adam!
Put on your best and purest garments in every place of prayer; and eat and drink, but do not overdo it.
It is true that He does not love those who overdo it.
(Al-Araf, 7:31)

This verse was revealed in relation to idolaters who used to circumambulate the Kaaba naked.

But it has a broader meaning since it speaks not only of wearing garments, but the ‘best and purest clothes’.
And so the scholars have said that it is recommended, especially when going to the mosque, and especially to Jumuah and Eid prayers, to go in our best clothes, with a beautiful appearance and smelling pleasantly.

Ibn Kathir said:

Because of this verse, and what has been conveyed with the same meaning in the Sunnah, it is recommended to beautify oneself at the time of prayer, particularly on Fridays and the day of Eid, as well as to wear perfume, as it is part of adornment, and to wear the Miswak, as it is the perfection of all that.
(Tafsīr al-Qurʼān al-ʻAẓīm 7:31).

It has been reported that Abdullah ibn Umar, one of the great Sahabas, may Allah be pleased with them all, used to wear his best clothes every Jumuah on and Eid.

There is no doubt that this is so when we go to the mosque, Jumuah or Eid, or even when we go to pray at home.
Every time we do one of these things we are placing ourselves in the presence of the King, Owner and Sovereign of creation.
How would we be dressed and groomed if we were to be received by an important personality of this world?
Is not Allah much more important, really, the only important one?

And the Prophet tells us in Hadith that:

Allah is Beautiful and loves the beautiful.
He loves the highest of matters and disapproves of the petty and vulgar.
(al-Mu’jam al-Awsaṭ 6902)

The goal of the Muslim is to be aware that Allah is watching him and is with him at all times.
Therefore, the highest reason why we should dress ‘in the best and purest clothes’, i.e. in the best way, and be neat and perfumed whenever possible, is because this is what pleases Allah most, and He is with us always.

But as the verse says: “But do not overdo it. It is true that He does not love those who go too far.”
That is, to be dressed in a way that is appropriate to our means, without wasting, without being extravagant in what we wear or in the amount we spend on it.
Remembering that we do not do it to show off, or to show off, or out of arrogance, but to please Allah and to be pleasing to His creatures, to remind people of the goods that Allah has bestowed upon us and to show our gratitude for it. Allah says in the Qur’an:

And speak of the favor that your Lord has given you.
(Ad Duha, 93:11)

But he also warns us:

And do not make a bad face at people or walk the earth with insolence, for it is true that Allah does not love the one who is conceited and boastful.
(Luqman, 31:18) The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said in a Hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah:

Verily, Allah does not look at your appearance or your wealth, but He looks at your hearts and your actions.
(Muslim)

This is the reality.
Allah does not care about our wealth, nor our appearance, nor our beauty, but what matters to Allah is that we have a pure heart and that we act uprightly.

But this is not contradictory to what we talked about in the first part of the Khutba.
In this Hadith the Prophet, peace be upon him, reminds us of the importance of sincerity.
The importance of everything we do being by and for Allah.
And that is why he does not say that Allah does not care about our clothing or our wealth, that is the stuff of this ephemeral world, of Dunia, but our hearts and our actions, which is what will endure in the Ajrah.
As Allah says in the Qur’an:

The day when neither wealth nor children will be of any use.
Only the one who comes to Allah with a clean heart.

So the reason why we seek to have a good appearance, why we are clean, why we wear perfume, is because we honor our Creator and because we honor His creation, both ourselves and others, and because we are grateful for what Allah has given us.

We do not do it because we believe that by doing so we are better, nor do we seek recognition from the people.
We do not do it out of love for the things of this world, we do not do it out of arrogance or to show off, since to do so for these reasons would be arrogant and boastful.
And:

Allah does not love the one who is conceited and boastful.

Arrogance, as the Messenger of Allah said, is not dressing well or having a good appearance.
Arrogance is:

Arrogance is rejecting the truth and looking down on people.

To reject the truth means not to accept the reality that Allah is the Creator and that everything comes from Him and to Him must return, and to look at people above is to believe oneself to be superior to others.

And as the prophet told us, “Every action is by its intention.”
If the motive for wanting to look good is to be boastful and arrogant, then this becomes reprehensible.

If, on the other hand, the intention is to honour Allah and His creation and to show our gratitude for His gifts, then it is commendable.

Because this intention arises from a pure heart, only a heart that loves Allah can want to honour Him and His creation in the best way, and one who has a grateful heart is satisfied with Allah.
A heart that, as the Hadith says, seeks the beautiful and the highest of matters and not the vulgar or contemptible.