Ramadan-Wear 2011: What Are You Wearing this Season?

By Siddiq Ather, TMO

We have been blessed to be this close to the holy month of Ramadan, a great month of brotherhood, sisterhood, and spiritual advancement. Everyone is getting their Ramadan-wear ready. Lines of e’thr are arrayed on tables, and thobes (robes) and shalwar kameeses (long shirts) are dug out from the closet. But, there is some conflict.

One man looking at the one Saudi thobe he got as a gift a year ago realizes it’s a bit worn. He thinks in urdu,” Kash mera paas aik neya thobe tha ( I wish I had a new thobe).” Another looks at his Friday thobe sequestered between his stylish array of dress shirts and sweaters and thinks, “Man, I wish thobes had a bit more variety.” A third comes back from work, and upon seeing his thobe back from the dry cleaners thinks, “I wish I had a thobe with enough presence to wear at a business meeting.” A sister, after running around the mall all afternoon, stops for a breath of air, and thinks, “All that looking, and I still haven’t found one proper outfit I can wear to the masjid.”

Brothers and Sisters, look no further. There are options out there. First, I would suggest looking up your local Muslim all-in-one stores, or indian pakistani clothing store. If you still can’t find what you are looking for, there is still hope. If you attended the recent ISNA convention of 2011 in Chicago you probably could not help but notice the two Muslim-wear powerhouses, Kamani Clothing and Lawung Ltd. On their two websites, www.kamanionline.com and www.lawungdirect.com , respectively, they have taken Muslim-wear to a whole new level. Kamani clothing has a variety of thobe styles: Legacy, Prime, Ideal, and Classic. Lawung has a nice variety of children’s thobes along with their adult collections

They have integrated styles reminiscent of brand name formal and casual wear into the thobe. They have re-invented the thobe as we know it. Their items are modern, sleek , and affordable. Prices range from about thirty five dollars to eighty dollars, depending on what style you choose; shipping and handling is an additional cost. However, these items would be ideal for Ramadan-wear for you or as a gift. Lawung is based in the United Kingdom, and Kamani Clothing is run by the young Midwestern scholar Mufti Hussain Kamani.

From ’Abdullaah Ibn Mas’ood (R) who said that the Prophet (s) said, “No one will enter Paradise who has an atom’s weight of pride in his heart.” A man said, “What if a man likes his clothes to look good and his shoes to look good?” He said, “Allah is beautiful and loves beauty. Pride means denying the truth and looking down on people.” (Muslim) Muslims should try their best to be clean, neat, and nice, especially during Ramadan; this allows the environment in the masjid to continue to be inviting, even with the higher number of attendees.

Many sisters try wearing hijab for the first time during the holy month. Be supportive of such sisters, instead of ruthlessly criticizing there slight hijabesque blunders. If you are such a sister or are just looking for tutorial on how to wear the hijab in different styles, search “stylecoveredvideo” on youtube. Stylecoveredvideo is the Youtube channel by the Muslim designer Hana Tajima-Simpson, and her tutorials may make the transition to wearing hijab a bit easier. 

Hopefully, you all find the Ramadanwear you are looking for, locally, online, or elsewhere.

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