It is both painful and lamentable that so many Muslim women today have reached a point of heedless exposure and laxity in covering, racing to display their charms and adopting garments that do not conceal—merely imitating the women of the unbelievers and apostates. There is no might nor power except through Allah, the Most High, the Most Great.

Allah, Exalted is He, has commanded more than the mere covering of the ʿawrah in prayer; He has ordered that one adorn himself. He says, “O children of Adam, take your adornment at every place of worship” (7:31). Thus He instructs us to adorn ourselves, not merely to cover the ʿawrah, which shows that a Muslim should wear his finest and most beautiful clothes when standing before Allah, Blessed and Exalted, so that the worshipper appears in that station in the most perfect outward and inward state.

Third: Avoiding impurity

Among the conditions of prayer is to avoid najāsah (impurity); the worshipper must keep completely free of it on his body, his clothing, and the spot on which he stands to pray.

Najāsah is a specific kind of filth that, by its very nature, prevents the validity of the prayer—such as carrion, blood, wine, urine, and excrement. Allah says, “And purify your garments” (74:4). Ibn Sīrīn said, “Wash them with water,” and he advised, “Keep yourselves away from urine, for most of the punishment of the grave is because of it.” He also instructed that a woman wash her garment when it is soiled by menstrual blood, and then pray.