Men wearing red clothes

Question : I've heard that it's wrong for men to wear red. Is this true?

Praise be to Allaah. 

The scholars differed concerning the ruling on men wearing red clothes, and different ahaadeeth have been narrated concerning that. Some ahaadeeth indicate that wearing red is forbidden, whilst others indicate that it is permitted. It is possible to reconcile between them – praise be to Allaah – because the ahaadeeth do not contradict with one another in fact, as the source is one. The correct view concerning this matter is that the ahaadeeth can be reconciled in the following manner:

 It is permissible to wear red clothes if the red is combined with another colour; it is not permissible to wear plain red, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade doing so.

 There follows a discussion of some of the ahaadeeth on this issue:

 A-   The ahaadeeth which forbid wearing plain red.

 1.     From al-Baraa’ ibn ‘Aazib (may Allaah be pleased with him): “The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade us to use soft red mattresses and qasiy – garments with woven stripes of silk.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5390)

2.      From Ibn ‘Abbaas, who said: “I was forbidden (to wear) red garments and gold rings, and to recite Qur’aan in rukoo’.” (Narrated by al-Nasaa’i, no. 5171. Imaam al-Albaani said: its isnaad is saheeh. Saheeh Sunan al-Nasaa’i, 1068).

3.     From ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-Aas (may Allaah be pleased with them both), who said: “A man passed by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) wearing two red garments and greeted him with salaam, but he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not return the greeting.” (Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, no. 2731; Abu Dawood, no. 3574. Al-Tirmidhi said: this hadeeth is hasan ghareeb with this isnaad). According to the scholars, the meaning of this hadeeth is that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) disliked the wearing of garments dyed with safflower (the red dyestuff obtained from safflowers), but he had no objection to garments dyed with clay or other substances, so long as it was not dyed with safflower. This hadeeth was classed as da’eef by al-Albaani (Da’eef Sunan Abi Dawood, 403;Da’eef Sunan al-Tirmidhi, 334. He said: its isnaad is da’eef).

 B. Ahaadeeth which may be understood to mean that it is permissible to wear red if it is mixed with another colour:

 1.      From Hilaal ibn ‘Aamir from his father, who said: “I saw the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in Mina, giving a khutbah sitting on his mule, wearing a red cloak, and ‘Ali was in front of him, repeating what he said (in a loud voice, so that the people could hear).”(Narrated by Abu Dawood, no. 3551; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani –Saheeh Sunan Abi Dawood, 767).

2.      The hadeeth of al-Baraa’ ibn ‘Aazib (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was of average build. I saw him in a red hullah, and I never saw anyone more handsome than him (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, no. 5400; Muslim, 4308).

3.      From al-Baraa’, who said: “I never saw anyone who has hair wearing a red hullah and looking more handsome than the Messenger of Allaah(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). He had hair down to his shoulders, he was broad-shouldered and was neither short nor tall.”(Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, no. 1646. He said: in this chapter there is a report from Jaabir ibn Samurah and Abu Rimthah and Abu Juhayfah. This hadeeth is hasan saheeh…)

4.     From al-Baraa’ who said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had hair down to his earlobes. I saw him wearing a red hullah, and I have never seen anyone more handsome than him.” (Narrated by Abu Dawood, no. 4072; Ibn Maajah, no. 3599. Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani – Saheeh Sunan Abi dawood, 768).

5.     Al-Bayhaqi narrated in al-Sunan: “[The Prophet] (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to wear a red cloak on Eid.”

 What is meant by a red hullah is a suit of two Yemeni garments which are woven with red and black stripes, or red and green stripes. It is described as red because of the red stripes in it. 

This is the view of a number of scholars, such as al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (Fath al-Baari Sharh ‘ala Saheeh al-Bukhaari, no. 5400) and Ibn al-Qayyim (Zaad al-Ma’aad, 1-137). And Allaah knows best.