Whilst the Islamic laws governing women's clothing and appearance are very obvious, men also have to abide to certain rules.

Covering The Body

With regards to covering, it is forbidden for a man to expose the area between his navel and his knees. It is also much disliked to leave any of the shoulders uncovered, especially during prayer.

Forbidden Materials

Men are forbidden to wear anything made from gold (including white gold) or silk, as these luxuries are reserved exclusively for women. Some people claim that wearing a silk tie or a gold fob / chain watch is okay as they are hung from other items of clothing and don't actually touch the skin. This is simply not true.

The Beard

One area that seems to cause confusion is the beard. The prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) would encourage (but NOT force) his followers to grow a beard and shave their moustaches in order to distinguish them from the pagans, Christians and Jews who also lived in Arabia at the time. This tradition has continued since then. Lately however, more extreme groups have been punishing innocent men for not having a beard - for example, the Taliban would sometimes beat men to death for this 'crime'. To reiterate, it is NOT obligatory to wear a beard, it is just a matter of your own personal preferance.

Printed Images

Another grey area concerns pictures on clothing, especially pictures of people or other living creatures. Some muslims view this as being haram, but there is a hadith which would suggest that this isn't necessarily true. The hadith in question is:

Volume 7, Book 72, Number 841: Narrated Abu Talha:

Allah's Apostle said, "Angels (of mercy) do not enter a house where there are pictures.'" The sub-narrator Busr added: "Then Zaid fell ill and we paid him a visit. Behold! There was, hanging at his door, a curtain decorated with a picture. I said to 'Ubaidullah Al-Khaulani, the step son of Maimuna, the wife of the Prophet , "Didn't Zaid tell us about the picture the day before yesterday?" 'Ubaidullah said, "Didn't you hear him saying: 'except a design in a garment'?"