The Book of Clothes and Adornment - Sahih Muslim 2074

He who wore silk in this world would not wear it in the Hereafter.

Commentary on the Prohibition of Silk

This hadith establishes a profound spiritual principle regarding the wearing of silk garments by Muslim men. The prohibition is not merely a legal ruling but carries eschatological implications, connecting worldly actions to eternal consequences.

The scholars explain that silk represents luxury, vanity, and effeminacy when worn by men. By abstaining from it in this temporal world, the believer stores up reward and earns the privilege of wearing far superior garments in Paradise. The deprivation in this life becomes the means to greater enjoyment in the next.

This teaching encourages Muslims to prioritize spiritual values over material adornment and to cultivate contentment with what is permissible. The exception for medical necessity (as established in other narrations) demonstrates Islam's balanced approach, where genuine need tempers general prohibitions.

Scholarly Interpretation

Imam An-Nawawi comments that this prohibition applies specifically to Muslim men, while women are permitted silk as it complements their natural adornment. The wisdom behind this distinction preserves gender distinctions and prevents imitation between the sexes.

Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani elaborates that the hadith indicates the severity of the prohibition - that the one who insists on wearing silk despite the prohibition will be deprived of it in the Hereafter as a form of divine justice, while those who abstain will be rewarded with superior silken garments in Paradise.