Youth and Fashion
One of the issues that put our youth into trouble is fashion.
Fashion changes based on four seasons. Frequent changes that take place in clothing, hairstyle, household appliances, jewelry, decoration and everything that affects lifestyle are called "fashion".
Young people keep up with the fashion in accordance with their pleasures and income levels. While some of them change their clothes once a year, others do not wear their clothes that they wear at a meeting or a wedding again.
There is not a "fashion" understanding like that in Islam, which is a religion of beauty and wisdom. However, there is change and innovation.
Why does Islam approach fashion, which originates from worldly and sensual desires, negatively?
Continuous and frequent change, which is the basic aspect of fashion, causes extravagance. Extravagance is forbidden in our religion. Our Lord states the following in the Quran: "Eat and drink: but waste not by excess for Allah loveth not the wasters." (al-A'raf: 31)
Fashion does not originate from real and vital needs but from feelings, desires and pleasures.
The origin of fashion is the West, which is based on worldliness. They have no religious concerns. Therefore, what emerges as "fashion" can conflict with our basic religious principles.
For instance, it is not permissible to wear garments that are not in accordance with tasattur because it is fard to cover certain parts of the body for both men and women though the parts to be covered are not the same.
The essence of fashion is to resemble other nations. Believers are ordered not to resemble other nations. The Prophet (pbuh) said, "A person who imitates another nation is regarded as one of them." (Abu Dawud, Libas: 5)
As hadiths indicate, the Prophet (pbuh) acts contrarily to other nations even in terms of the days and style of worship.
Therefore, a young believer cannot imitate the clothing style, hairstyle, entertainment forms and lifestyle of another nation.
The following statement of Badiuzzaman Said Nursi is remarkable:
"O sons of this land! Do not try to imitate Europeans! How can you reasonably trust in and follow the vice and invalid, worthless thought of Europe after the boundless tyranny and enmity it has shown you? No! No! You who imitate them in dissoluteness, you are not following them, but unconsciously joining their ranks and putting to death both yourselves and your brothers. Know that the more you follow them in immorality the more you lie in claiming to be patriots! Because your following them in this way is to hold your nation in contempt, to hold the nation up to ridicule." (Lem'alar (Flashes), p.116)
We need to take lessons from the following hadiths:
"May Allah damn a woman who wears men's clothes and a man who wears women's clothes!" (Abu Dawud, Libas: 28)
"May Allah damn women who try to resemble men and men who try to resemble women!" (Bukhari, Libas: 61)
"Gold and silk are permissible for the women of my ummah but forbidden for the men of my ummah." (Tabarani, Kabir)
"May Allah dam those who dye faces red and have their faces dyed red!" (Musnad, 6: 250)
As it is seen, one of principles of our religion is to preserve the properties of genders peculiar to them. Therefore, the clothing style, hairstyle and attitudes of women and men must not resemble each other. A woman has modesty and tasattur peculiar to her; a man must also be serious and solemn.
Fashion has no such concerns.
Besides, fashion does not take the principles of religion into account since it is worldly, emotional and sensual. The orders and prohibitions of Islam cannot be abolished due to worldly and sensual reasons.
Therefore, a young believer cannot follow fashion and resemble other nations.
We should preserve our own values instead of resembling others. When a lifestyle is imitated, it comes with all of its bad aspects. For instance, in the Western style, it is necessary to accept a lot of pictures, statutes and the bar in house decoration. However, in our decoration style, it is essential to have an arrangement with calligraphy and qibla location.
However, there is innovation and change in our religion, but this change must not cause extravagance, resemble another nation and contradict the orders and prohibitions of our religion.
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