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Fatwa CenterGetting married in a white wedding dress
Question
Insha Allah, I will be getting married soon. I want to wear a white dress. Is it allowed in Islam?
Answer
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.
Wearing a white dress at the time of marriage or at any other time is allowed. If one objects believing that it belongs to Christian customs or it is similar to the dress of men then it should be avoided. Originally it was a Christian custom but now it is widespread among Muslims and has became a part of their culture. Hence imitating non-Muslims no longer exists in this practice. The criteria of imitation is that the practice should be a sign and symbol of non-Muslims so that a person merely looking at it considers the person doing it as non-Muslim such as the cap of Jews, the dress of monks and wearing the cross, etc.
"The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) used to wear the dress of his people and permitted wearing burnoose which was basically the dress of monks but thereafter became a common dress used by all people." When the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) was asked about the dress that is permitted for the person who is in the state of Ihram, he said: "Do not wear shirts, turbans, trousers or burnooses." The Hadith indicates that it is allowed for those who are not in the state of Ihram.
Ibn Hajar said explaining the Hadith that 'Prohibits wearing silk, dealing and sitting on red saddle clothes, he said, 'sitting on red saddle clothes was prohibited since it was the culture of non-Muslims but all of them became Muslims. Then this part of their culture is no longer considered as culture of disbelievers. Thus there is no harm to use them.'
As for supposing that wearing white colour is imitating men, it is also not correct since there is no colour that is peculiar to men or women. The white marriage dress of women is totally different from the white cloths of men. Therefore, there is no imitation of men or non-Muslims in this dress if it is worn by women, before their Maharim and husbands.
Allah knows best.
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