Muslim clothing vs Eastern clothing
28-6-2004 | IslamWeb
Question:
I have a question about clothing in North America. I have read that some Muslim believe we should dress like a 'Muslim' and not a non-believer. What does that mean? I believe the Qur'an said the religion is for all mankind, thus why does culture play into Islam? For example, why cannot a man in America wear blue jeans and a baseball cap - assume his cap is like a kufi? That is the cultural attire in that part of the world. Who is to say that wearing Middle Eastern clothing is Islamic - as all people from the Middle East are not Islamic nor does an Arab equal to mean a Muslim. I'm just curious. I had an imam say that we must dress in attire he wears, very Middle Eastern like. Most of the Muslims kind of laughed at themselves and view this man as a zealot. I believe if the clothes are loose and the prescribed things are covered as said in Islam it does not matter what one wears. I don't get it. I think this is the problem why Islam has a hard time in the West. It is bringing a lot of cultural baggage from the East and telling people, new converts, that they must conform to their cultural dress. Also, I find it odd that many Muslims say that men must not dress or look like woman. How can one decide that, unless we base all of our customs off the Middle East? Many men in North America and Europe wear necklaces yet in 'Islam' it is considered copying attire of woman. What? How does one get that idea, unless again we take all the cultural baggage from the Middle East and apply it to Islam? I believe the Qur'an means that it cannot be one's Intention to dress like a woman. So, if where we live we wear necklaces than we are not copying woman, it is our culture and we still will be Muslims. This is all very subjective and confusing. Please help me understand your perspective.
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
Islam does not obligate any person to comply with an Arabic or Eastern code of dress; rather, it forbids imitating non-Muslims. Imaam Ahmad and Abu Dawood 
narrated that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Whoever imitates a nation, he becomes one of them." The criteria of imitation is imitating them in the matters that are peculiar to them. Thus, those dresses which are peculiar to them like the dress of popes, fathers, monks and priests are forbidden.
As for the dress that is common among the people like pants, jackets etc, wearing them is not forbidden unless they do not cover the body properly. Wearing silk is forbidden for men as Ali 
narrated that, “The Prophet of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam took silk and held it in his right hand and took gold and held it in his left hand and said, ‘Both of these are prohibited to the males of my Ummah (nation).’”
Similarly it is forbidden for a person from one gender to imitate the opposite sex due to the Hadeeth narrated by Ibn ‘Abbaas that, "The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam cursed men imitate women and women who imitate men.”
Wearing necklaces and similar ornaments is not allowed for men for two reasons. If they are made of gold or silver, then it is forbidden for men to wear them except a silver ring or for some necessity such as to fix a tooth or the like, and the other reason is that the necklace is an ornament particular to women.
Allaah Knows best.