As for the taylasān (a type of cloak), it has not been reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, or any of his Companions wore it. Rather, it is established in Sahīh Muslim (1), in a hadith narrated by al-Nawwās ibn Sam‘ān (2), that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, mentioned the Dajjāl (the Antichrist) and said: “Seventy thousand Jews of Isfahan will come forth with him, wearing such cloaks.” Anas saw a group wearing these cloaks and said: “How closely they resemble the Jews of Khaybar (3)!”
For this reason, a number of scholars of the early and later generations disapproved of wearing them, citing the report transmitted by Abū Dāwūd and by al-Hākim in al-Mustadrak (4), from Ibn ‘Umar, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “Whoever imitates a people is one of them.” Al-Tirmidhī (5) also relates that he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “Whoever imitates those other than us is not one of us.”
(1) No. 2944.
(2) This is the reading in all the original manuscripts, and it is also quoted from our book in Fath al-Bārī (10:274), al-Mawāhib al-Ladunniyya (2:200), and Subul al-Hudā (7:289). This is an oversight: the hadith in question is narrated by Anas ibn Mālik, may Allah be pleased with him, as given in the al-Risāla edition without noting the correction.
(3) Reported by al-Bukhārī (4208), with the wording: “It is as though they were the Jews of Khaybar this very moment.”
(4) Abū Dāwūd (4031). Its sources have already been discussed at the beginning of the book. I have not found it in the printed edition of al-Mustadrak, nor have I found anyone who attributed it to that work.
(5) No. 2695, narrated by ‘Amr ibn Shu‘ayb, from his father, from his grandfather, ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Amr, through Qutayba, from Ibn Lahī‘a, from ‘Amr ibn Shu‘ayb. Al-Tirmidhī graded it weak and explained its defect, saying: “Ibn al-Mubārak narrated this hadith from Ibn Lahī‘a but did not attribute it to the Prophet.” The preceding hadith supports its meaning.