Appropriate Clothing for Salah, the Daily Ritual Devotions

God says in the Quran, “O children of Adam, dress beautifully in every place of worship, and eat and drink, but do not be extravagant. Truly, He does not love those who are extravagant. O children of Adam, wear clean, pure, beautiful, clothes that cover your nakedness when you perform the daily ritual devotions and when you make circumambulation of the Kaba.” [7:31]

It’s important and crucial to learn about appropriate dress and coverage in Salah (the obligatory daily ritual devotions), as it is one of the conditions for acceptance of our Salah. In this short blog post, we will summarize the requirements for appropriate clothing in Salah.

First, the clothing we wear must be clean. We are meeting with our Creator, the Lord of the Worlds, standing before Him. We wouldn’t go to a king or any VIP in shabby, unclean attire. Second, clothing must be purchased with pure (halal) money and obtained in a lawful way. For example, if a person sells pork or alcohol, his money would not be pure. Or if someone stole clothing and wore it, this would not be acceptable to do Salah in.

When standing for our daily ritual devotions, certain parts of the body must be covered. For men, the clothes must cover from the navel to the knee, and the shoulders. However, it’s recommended for more coverage if more clothing is available. For women, the entire body must be covered except for the face and the hands. Additionally, the clothing being used must be loose-fitting – not tight or see-through. So doing Salah in tight jeans would not be ok for either men or women.

Men should take care to ensure that shirts are long enough and pants not hanging too low so that when bowing and kneeling with the face on the ground, the parts of the body that are meant to be covered (lower back and backside) do not become uncovered in these positions.

In conclusion, we want to emphasize that Salah, the Daily Ritual Devotion, is a special meeting with God. It’s crucial that one pays special attention to cover properly, without extravagance or arrogance, while being presentable and professional in these beautiful daily obligational appointments we are blessed to have with Our Lord, the Most Generous, Most Merciful.