عورت مرد کا اور مرد عورت کا لباس نہ پہنے

Narrated Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him): “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ cursed the man who wears women’s clothing and the woman who wears men’s clothing.”

The real cause of evil arising in human life and of society falling into corruption is that man turns away from his own nature and adopts an attitude contrary to what is natural. A man possesses a particular temperament and a woman likewise possesses a particular temperament. The characteristics of each are distinct; but when a man begins trying to become effeminate and a woman tries to become a man, the result begins to show itself in the form of corruption and decline.

One narration puts it this way:

“It is forbidden for a woman to wear a man’s clothing and for a man to wear a woman’s clothing.” (reported by Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasā’ī, Ibn Mājah, Ibn Ḥibbān and al-Ḥākim)

It is not permissible for women to adopt the dress and manner of men, nor is it permissible for men to adopt the dress and distinctive adornment of women. This imitation is likewise not correct in speech and conversation, in the way one walks about, and in manner and bearing. Yes, if it is natural and beyond one’s power to change, there is no harm in it — though one should certainly make an effort to change it; but to do so deliberately and intentionally is forbidden.

It is on this basis that the Prophet ﷺ forbade men to wear yellow-coloured clothing. It is narrated from ‘Alī (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ forbade me to wear a gold ring, to wear garments of qassī (a particular kind of silk), and to wear yellow-coloured clothes (reported by Muslim). It is narrated from Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ saw two yellow-coloured garments on my body and said: this is the dress of the disbelievers, do not wear it.

That is, a woman who adopts the way of men in dress and the like, or a man who adorns himself in the manner of women, is under this curse. In today’s modern society this malady is very widespread; heedless and unconcerned about so severe a warning, a great number of women adopt it without feeling the slightest hesitation — and foremost among these is wearing men’s clothing and cutting the hair of the head like men.

A curse (la‘nah) is in reality an invocation against someone, meaning that they be distanced from and deprived of Allah’s mercy. That is, when someone curses another, he is praying against him that he be deprived of Allah’s mercy. The Prophet of mercy ﷺ, who came as a mercy to all the worlds, strictly forbade cursing. The severity of that prohibition can be well gauged from this blessed hadith too: whoever curses a Muslim, it is as though he has killed him (reported by al-Bukhārī).

Now let it be considered: when there is so severe a warning against merely uttering a curse, and once the meaning of a curse is understood, then if a person commits an act which the tongue of the Mercy to the Worlds ﷺ has declared to be a cause of the curse, such people should understand well what a grave degree of sin they are committing. May Allah grant the Muslim community the ability to abstain from all such deeds as become a forerunner of Allah’s curse. Āmīn, O Lord of the Worlds!