Personal Grooming and Outward Appearance in Early Muslim Societies

Abstract

Past Muslim Societies have placed much importance on the outward appearance and personal grooming of both men and women based on the assumption that both physical attributes and clothing and adornment are benevolence God showers upon the believers. This is reflected in Medieval Muslim legal texts which provide much information regarding clothing, adornment and grooming. Along with shaping legal norms, those sources also contain discussion and response to a changing reality. This is a demonstration of the desirable and the existing alike and a reflection of a relationship of dependency and influence between reality and the written legal texts. The discussion of these sources shows that past Muslim societies, like many others, used the importance of the outward appearance as a means to determining social relationship in general and hierarchical gender-based relations specifically. For themselves men have decided that fostering their outward appearance and keeping the rules of hygiene are fulfilment of God's wishes, but women are ordered to do so for two different reasons integrating belief in God and a patriarchal world view: becoming attractive to men and fulfilling their sexual destiny as this is the patriarch wish. At the same time it is important to mention that both men and women attend to their outward appearance for additional reasons, such as the wish to show their socio-economic status and power.