Surah Al-Araf, Verse 31 and 32

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*Surah Al-Araf, Verse 31:*

يَا بَنِي آدَمَ خُذُوا زِينَتَكُمْ عِندَ كُلِّ مَسْجِدٍ وَكُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا وَلَا تُسْرِفُوا إِنَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُسْرِفِينَ

O Children of Adam! Take your adornment (by wearing your clean clothes), while praying and going round (the Tawaf of) the Ka'bah, and eat and drink but waste not by extravagance, certainly He (Allah) likes not Al-Musrifun (those who waste by extravagance).

#COMMENTARY

Beautiful apparel: zināt: adornment or apparel for beautiful living: construed to mean not only clothes that add grace to the wearer, but toilet and cleanliness, attention to hair, and other small personal details which no self-respecting man or woman ought to neglect when going solemnly even before a great human dignitary, if only out of respect for the dignity of the occasion. How much more important it is to attend to these details when we solemnly apply our minds to the Presence of Almighty ALLĀH. But the caution against excess applies: men must not go to prayer in silks or ornaments appropriate to religion: only the caution against excess applies strictly. A dirty, unkempt, slovenly Faqīr could not claim sanctity in Islam.

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*Surah Al-Araf, Verse 32:*

قُلْ مَنْ حَرَّمَ زِينَةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي أَخْرَجَ لِعِبَادِهِ وَالطَّيِّبَاتِ مِنَ الرِّزْقِ قُلْ هِيَ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا خَالِصَةً يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ كَذَٰلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ الْآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْلَمُونَ

Say (O Muhammad [Blessings and Peace of ALLĀH be upon him]): "Who has forbidden the adoration with clothes given by Allah, which He has produced for his slaves, and At-Taiyibat [all kinds of Halal (lawful) things] of food?" Say: "They are, in the life of this world, for those who believe, (and) exclusively for them (believers) on the Day of Resurrection (the disbelievers will not share them)." Thus We explain the Ayat (Islamic laws) in detail for people who have knowledge.

#COMMENTARY

Asceticism often means the negation of art and beauty, it has no necessary sanctity attached to it.

The beautiful and good things of life are really meant for, and should be the privilege of those with faith in Almighty ALLĀH. If they do not always have them in this life, and if there is sometimes the semblance of others of others having them who do not deserve them, let us remember that this is a test from Almighty ALLĀH. In the life to come they will be purely for the faithful.