The clothing of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)

Praise
be to Allah.

In the Sunnah there are reports which describe several types
of clothing that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used
to wear. To sum up: the reports say that he (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) used to wear whatever garments were readily available and were
customary among his people. So he did not reject that which was available,
he did not go to great lengths to obtain that which was not available, he
did not wear anything that made him stand out from other people, and he did
not restrict himself to wearing only one type of clothing. Rather he wore
all kinds of fabric except silk, and all kinds of garments that were
covering and beautiful. Al-‘Allaamah Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on
him) compiled a summary of the hadiths which describe the clothing of the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), which we will quote here
in brief. We will not burden the reader by quoting all the hadiths which
speak of this topic, as they may be found in the books of the Sunnah, and
one may refer to them in the sections on clothing and adornment. 

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

He had a turban [i.e., that which is wrapped around the head,
as is the dress of ordinary people in some countries nowadays, such as Yemen
and Sudan] that was called as-sahaab (“the cloud”), which he gave to ‘Ali.
Under it he wore a cap (qalansuwah). Sometimes he wore the cap without the
turban, and sometimes he wore the turban without the cap. When he put on the
turban, he let the ends hang down between his shoulder blades, as Muslim
narrated in his Saheeh from ‘Amr ibn Hurayth who said: I saw the
Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) on the minbar
wearing a black turban, with its two ends hanging down between his shoulder
blades. In Muslim it is also narrated from Jaabir ibn ‘Abdullah that the
Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) entered Makkah
wearing a black turban. The hadith of Jaabir does not mention the end of the
turban, which indicates that he did not always let the end hang down between
his shoulder blades. It may be said that he entered Makkah wearing battle
dress and a cap of chain mail on his head, because in every situation he
wore what was appropriate. 

He (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) also wore a
qamees or chemise [which is like the thobes that are known nowadays and in
some countries they are called galabiyah]. This was the most beloved of
garments to him. The sleeves came down to the wrists. 

He also wore the jubbah [which is an overgarment with wide
sleeves that is open at the front and is worn over the thobe. It is similar
to the jubbah worn nowadays by the faculty of al-Azhar. See: al-Mu‘jam
al-Waseet (1/104)]. 

The farrooj – which is like the qaba’ [a garment that is worn
over other garments and with a cummerbund or waist sash]. See: al-Mu‘jam
al-Waseet (2/713)] 

The farjiyyah [a loose, long-sleeved garment that is worn by
religious scholars. See: al-Mu‘jam al-Waseet (2/679)]. 

When travelling he wore a jubbah with tight sleeves. 

He wore the izaar (waist-wrapper or lower garment) and rida’
(upper garment) [these are the garments that people wear in ihram today].
Al-Waaqidi said: His rida’ and burd (types of upper garment) were six cubits
long and three cubits and a handspan wide. His izaar was made of Omani
cloth; it was four cubits and a handspan long and two cubits and a handspan
wide. 

He wore a red hullah. The hullah (suit) was composed of an
izaar and rida’; the word simply refers to two garments worn together. Those
who thought that it was pure red, not mixed with any other colour, are
mistaken. Rather the red suit was two pieces of Yemeni cloth woven with red
and black stripes, like all Yemeni cloths. They were known by this name
because they contained red stripes. Otherwise, pure red is emphatically
disallowed. 

He wore both patterned and plain khameesahs (woollen
cloaks). 

He wore black garments. 

He wore a fur coat (made from animal pelt) edged with silk
brocade 

Imam Ahmad and Abu Dawood narrated with their isnaads from
Anas ibn Maalik that the ruler of Byzantium sent the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) a gift of a fur coat edged with fine silk, and
he put it on. 

As-Asma‘i said: This refers to a fur coat with long sleeves.
al-Khattaabi said: It is likely that this fur coat was edged with silk
brocade, because the fur coat itself cannot be made of silk brocade. 

He bought a pair of trousers, and what appears to be the case
is that he only bought them in order to wear them. It is narrated in more
than one hadith that he wore trousers and they (the Sahaabah) wore trousers
with his permission. 

He wore khuffaayn (leather slippers that come above the
ankles) and he wore sandals that were called taasoomah. 

He wore rings; the hadiths differ as to whether he wore his
ring on his right hand or his left hand. All of the hadiths have saheeh
isnaads. 

He wore a helmet, and he wore chainmail. On the day of Uhud
he appeared wearing two garments of chainmail. 

In Saheeh Muslim it is narrated that Asma’ bint Abi
Bakr said: This is the jubbah (overgarment) of the Messenger of Allah
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), and she brought out to me a
Persian overgarment which had pockets lined with silk brocade and its
sleeves were edged with silk brocade. She said: This was in ‘Aa’ishah’s
possession until she died, and when she died, I took it. The Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to wear it, and now we wash
it for the sick and seek healing thereby. 

He had two green garments [burdah – the burdah is a striped
garment that is open at the front. It is usually placed on the shoulders
like an ‘abayah but it is smaller. The wearer wraps himself up in it or lets
it hang down; it is similar to the kisa’ (a mantle or wrap)]. He also had a
black mantle, a felted red mantle, and a mantle made of goat hair. 

His qamees (chemise) was made of cotton; it was short and had
short sleeves. As for these wide and long sleeves like saddlebags, neither
he nor any of his companions wore such things at all, and that is contrary
to his Sunnah; there is some doubt as to its permissibility, because it is
akin to showing off. 

The most beloved garment to him was the qamees (chemise –
thobe or galabiyah) and hibarah (a striped garment) – the hibarah is a type
of burdah with some reddish colour. 

The most beloved of colours to him was white, and he said:
“They (white garments) are the best of your garments, so wear them and
shroud your dead in them. 

In as-Saheeh it is narrated from ‘Aa’ishah that she
brought out a felted kisa’ (mantle) and an izaar made of heavy fabric and
said: The soul of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) was taken whilst he was wearing these. 

With regard to the taylasaan (shawl) [which is a cover that
is worn over the head and shoulders, or over the shoulders only, and is worn
nowadays by many priests and Jewish rabbis – see al-Mu‘jam al-Waseet
(2/553)], there is no report to suggest that the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) or any of his companions wore it. Rather it is
proven in Saheeh Muslim, in the hadith of Anas ibn Maalik, that the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) mentioned the Dajjaal and
said: “He will emerge, accompanied by seventy thousand of the Jews of
Asbahaan, wearing taylasaans (shawls).” Anas saw a group of people wearing
such shawls and said: How closely they resemble the Jews of Khaybar.
Therefore a number of the earlier and later scholars regarded it as makrooh
to wear it. 

Most of the garments that the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) and his companions wore were made of cotton, and
sometimes they wore garments made of wool or linen. Shaykh Abu Ishaaq al-Asbahaani
narrated with a saheeh isnaad from Jaabir ibn Ayyoob that he said: al-Salt
ibn Raashid entered upon Muhammad ibn Sireen wearing a jubbah of wool, an
izaar of wool and a turban of wool. Muhammad got upset with him and said: I
think that some people wear wool and say that ‘Eesa ibn Maryam wore it. But
someone whose sincerity I do not doubt told me that the Prophet (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) wore linen, wool and cotton, and the Sunnah
of our Prophet is more deserving of being followed. 

What Ibn Sireen meant by saying this is that some people
think that wearing wool all the time is better than wearing other fabrics,
so they make sure to wear it and they forbid themselves to wear anything
else. Similarly, they strive to wear only one style of clothing, and they
think that doing anything else is wrong. But what is wrong is restricting
oneself to such a thing, adhering to it and never doing anything different. 

The correct view is that the best path is the path of the
Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) that he
followed, enjoined, encouraged and did all the time. His practice with
regard to clothing was to wear whatever was easily available, sometimes
wool, sometimes cotton, sometimes linen; he wore a Yemeni burd (cloak) and a
green burd; he wore a jubbah, qaba’ (overgament), qamees (chemise or thobe/galabiyah),
trousers, izaar, rida’, khuff (leather slippers), and sandals; he let the
end of his turban hang down from behind sometimes, and at other times he did
not do that, and sometimes he brought part of the turban under his chin.
When he bought a new garment he would mention it by name and say: “O Allah,
You have given me this chemise/rida’/turban to wear; I ask You for its
goodness and the goodness for which it was made, and I seek refuge with You
from its evil and the evil for which it was made.” And when he put on his
chemise, he would start on the right. 

He wore black goat hair, as Muslim narrated in his Saheeh
from ‘Aa’ishah that she said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) went out wearing a striped garment made of black hair. In
as-Saheehayn it is narrated from Qataadah: We said to Anas: Which
garments were most liked by the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him)? He said: The hibarah. The hibarah was a Yemeni cloak.
Most of their garments were made of Yemeni textiles, because Yemen was close
to them. They sometimes wore things that were imported from greater Syria
and Egypt, such as qibaati fabric which was woven from linen by the Copts
(Egyptians). 

In Saheeh an-Nasaa’i it is narrated from ‘Aa’ishah
that she made for the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) a
burdah (cloak) of wool and he put it on, but when he sweated he noticed the
smell of the wool, and he took it off, as he liked good smells. In Sunan
Abi Dawood it is narrated that ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbaas said: I saw the
Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) wearing one of
the best of suits. 

In Sunan an-Nasaa’i it is narrated that Abu Rimthah
said: I saw the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) delivering a speech wearing two green garments. 

The green garment is a garment that has green stripes; it is
exactly like the red hullah (suit). Whoever thinks that the red hullah was
pure red should also say that the green garment was pure green, but no one
says that.

End quote from Zaad al-Ma‘aad (1/135-145) 

See a brief discussion on the rulings on clothing in answer
no. 36891 of our website. 

Whoever would like to see pictures of the kinds of clothing
referred to above can refer to the book al-Libaas wa’z-Zeenah min as-Sunnah
al-Mutahharah by Muhammad ‘Abd al-Kareem al-Qaadi. More details may be
found on the appearance of these garments in the book al-Mu‘jam al-‘Arabi
li Asma’ al-Malaabis by Rajab Ibraaheem, and al-Mu‘jam al-Mufassal bi
Asma’ al-Malaabis ‘inda al-‘Arab [originally published in French:
Dictionnaire détaillé des noms
des vêtements chez les Arabes]
by the Orientalist Reinhart Dozy, which we have referred to and quoted in
writing what may give a good idea of the garments. 

And Allah knows best.