The Modest-Dress Rule That Western Discussion Forgets Applies to Men

The thobe is worth including precisely because it makes a point that most Western discussion of Islamic clothing omits: modest dress in Islam is required of men as well.

Regional before religious

The thobe is an ankle-length long-sleeved robe, standard mens dress across the Arabian peninsula and worn widely elsewhere for prayer and religious occasions. It is regional dress before it is religious dress, and Arab Christians wear it too. Cut and detail vary sharply by country, the Saudi collar, the Emirati cord, the Omani tassel, and the differences are read as national rather than doctrinal.

The mens side of modesty

Its religious dimension comes from hadith on modest covering for men and from reports that the garments of the Prophet did not trail below the ankle, which is why some men wear it deliberately short. The existence of a modesty rule for men at all is the thing usually left out: coverage of Islamic dress fixes almost entirely on what women wear, and the thobe is a standing reminder that the tradition addresses the dress of both.