“Whoever alleges that the verse is speaking about the heart has limited its meaning to his own claim without any proof. In the language in which the Qur’an was revealed, ‘garments’ refers to what one wears or spreads out to sit or lie on; it is not transferred from that literal sense to the heart or to moral qualities except with clear evidence.”

Ibn Kathīr was of the view that the verse may embrace all the interpretations that have been mentioned, including the one Ibn Ḥazm rejected—namely, the purification of the heart—saying, “The Arabs do apply the word ‘garments’ to it.”

Ibn Ḥazm did not deny that usage; he objected only to restricting the verse exclusively to the heart.

The position adopted by Ibn Kathīr was also upheld by Ibn al-Qayyim—perhaps both of them drew it from their teacher Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him. After listing the previously cited opinions, Ibn al-Qayyim writes in Ighāthat al-Lahfān:

“I say: the verse encompasses all of this. It points to it by implicit indication and necessary implication, even if the wording does not state it explicitly. For if what is being commanded is the purification of the heart, then cleansing one’s garment and ensuring that one’s earnings are wholesome complete that objective. Foul clothing imprints upon the heart a foul disposition, just as impure food does. That is why the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade wearing the hides of tigers and other beasts of prey in several rigorously authentic hadiths that face no counter-evidence: such attire fixes in the heart a disposition resembling those animals. Outward conformity seeps into the inner state, and for that reason silk and gold were prohibited for men, because they instill in the heart the manner of those who wear them—namely, women and people of vanity and self-aggrandizement. The point is that purity…"