Women and jeans

For those who can't read arabic: the comment on the upper part of the picture is: for the sake of Allah....... and below: for the sake of the slave of Allah.....  First time i saw this picture it made me laugh, coz somehow it is sooo true. We all love to attract, and we all want to be part of a society. So a part of our dress is somehow always a way of integration in the society we are living in, a part of it is probably for the sake of Allah, the other part for the surroundings. The dress of a muslima is always influenced from the cultural environment she is living in. So for example a khaleeji arab girl is usually wearing black abaya even if she is not that much religious, a nord african hijabi most probably a caftan with hijab, a muslima with asien background probably a shalwar kameez with hijab, a muslima raised in Europe probably jeans with long-sleeves shirt and headscarf.... without even thinking over wether her dress is really fitting in the concept of islamic modesty. Islam and islamic dress code is and should be free from cultural influence. Wearing jeans is such a cultural influence. Not even women of the western society were wearing jeans before the feminism. Women in pants became an expression for that what feminism tried to claim: women would be equal to men. Al hamdoulillah islam was the first religion which gave similar rights for women, without jaming them into roles, which were not meant to be for women.
Regarding the cloths from women.... in islam there are 8 conditions which must be fullfilled:

      1-      It should cover the entire body, except the face and hands.    

                related by Abu Dawood: "Ayesha(r) reported that Asmaa bint Abu Bakr(r)
        came to the Messenger of Allah(swt) while wearing thin clothing. He
        approached her and said: 'O Asmaa! When a girl reaches the menstrual age,
        it is not proper that anything should remain exposed except this and this.'
        He pointed to the face and hands."

2-      It must be wide and loose, not showing the size of her limbs or the shape      of her body.

3-      It should not be thin, showing the colour of her skin.

4-      It should not be an adornment in and of itself

5-      It should not be perfumed.

6-    It should not resemble the clothing of men. (Narrated Ibn 'Abbas: Allah's Apostle cursed those men who are in the similitude (assume the manners) of women and those women who are in the similitude of men.  Sahih Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 72, Number 773)

7-    It should not resemble the dress of kaafir women. (It was narrated that Ibn ‘Umar said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘Whoever imitates a people is one of them.’” (Narrated by Abu Dawood, al-Libaas, 3512. Al-Albaani said in Saheeh Abi Dawood, (it is) hasan saheeh. No. 3401). Al-Munaawi and al-‘Alqami said: i.e., dressing as they dress, following their way of life in clothes and some of the things they do.

8-      It should not be a dress of fame and vanity.

Based on this, a woman should not appear in front of men wearing pants or trousers, also jeans, for three reasons: 

1 – They show the shape of the woman’s legs

2 – Wearing them is an imitation of men 

( as pants are traditionally mens wear ) and there is a hadeeth which says: Narrated Ibn 'Abbas: Allah's Apostle cursed those men who are in the similitude (assume the manners) of women and those women who are in the similitude of men.
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 72, Number 773
3 –  it is immitating the kuffar ( even in the western world,women didn't wear pants before the last century) and it is haram for us muslims to immitate the kuffar.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: I think that the Muslims should not follow these fashions and kinds of clothes that come to us from here and there. Many of them are not in accordance with proper Islamic dress which involves covering the woman completely, like the short or very tight or thin clothes. That includes pants, because they show the size of a woman’s legs, as well as her stomach, waist, breasts, etc. Wearing it comes under the description given in the saheeh hadeeth: “there are two types of the people of Hell whom I have not seen: people with whips like the tails of cattle, with which they strike the people, and women who are clothed yet naked, walking with an enticing gait, with something on their heads that looks like the humps of camels, leaning to one side. They will never enter Paradise or even smell its fragrance, although its fragrance can be detected from such and such a distance.” 

This hadeeth was narrated by Muslim, 2128.

He also said: What I think is that it is haraam for women to wear pants, because they are an imitation of men. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed women who imitate men. It also takes modesty away from the woman, because it opens the door to wearing the clothes of the people of Hell, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “There are two types of the people of Hell whom I have not seen…” and he described one of them as being, “women who are clothed yet naked, walking with an enticing gait, with something on their heads that looks like the humps of camels, leaning to one side. They will never enter Paradise or even smell its fragrance, although its fragrance can be detected from such and such a distance.” 

End quote from Majmoo’ Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 12, question no. 192, 104. 

It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (17/102): It is not permissible for (a woman) to wear pants, because that involves women resembling men.

Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan (may Allaah preserve him) was asked: Is it mustahabb or waajib for a woman to make her dress long? Is wearing socks on the feet sufficient if the dress is shortened only so much that nothing of the calf shows? How should a woman lengthen her dress by a cubit – below the ankle or below the knee? 

He replied: What is required of the Muslim woman is to cover all her body in front of men, hence she is allowed to lengthen her garment by a cubit so as to cover her feet, whereas men are forbidden to let their garments hang below their ankles. This indicates that women are required to cover all of their bodies. If a woman wears socks that is doing something extra to be more on the safe side with regard to covering, which is something good. She should also make her garment long, as described in the hadeeth. And Allaah is the Source of strength. End quote. Al-Muntaqa min Fataawa al-Shaykh al-Fawzaan, 5/334. 

The point is that a woman’s jilbab should be wide and come down to her ankles or more. If it is short and comes a handspan above the ankles, that is not permissible even if she covers her calves and feet with pants or socks, because that is imitating men who are enjoined to make their garments short, above the ankles. It also shows the shape and size of her feet. 

And Allaah knows best.
So far the fatwas to the subject..... there are a few more, but this ones are giving valid reason and logical argumentations. I think the picture above makes it clear enough: a headscarf is not equal to hijab and modest covering. Actually the dresscode described in the Quoran, and often missinterpreted/misstranslated as outer garment, is the JALABIB.  {"O Prophet, tell your wives and daughters and the believing women to draw their outer garments around them (when they go out or are among men). That is better in order that they may be known (to be Muslims) and not annoyed..." (Qur'an 33:59) }  = {Ya ayyuha an-Nabiyy qul li azwajika wa banatika wa nisa al-mu'minin yudnina alayhinna min jalabib hinna; dhalika adna an yu'rafna fa laa yu'dhayn. Wa kana Allahu Ghafur Rahim}
The reason for missinterpretations: there is no equal word in english or any other languages for the arabic word jilbab, or plural jalabib. Therefor translators usually represent the word jalabib with general terms like cloaks or outer garments. Jalabib, or jilbab is in fact nothing else as the abaya, today mainly worn by women of the arabic gulf countries. So far the only piece of cloth which is fullfilling the requierement of not showing the shape of body.