any doubt that whatever we eat, drink, or wear is a blessing from Allah, for He alone created it for us. Had Allah not made it easy, it would never have been available. If the Exalted One willed, the wealth in our hands could disappear and we would be unable to obtain a thing; and if He willed, the money might remain with us yet we would still find nothing to eat, wear, or drink. "Say, ‘Have you considered: if your water were to sink deep into the earth, who then could bring you flowing water?’" (Quran 67:30). Every favor we enjoy comes from Allah alone, and clothing is one of those favors.

So when Allah bestows upon you a new garment—whether a shirt, trousers, a ghutra (head-cloth), a mishlah (cloak), or anything similar—and you put it on, say: “O Allah, to You belongs all praise; You are the One who has clothed me with it,” mentioning the garment by name: “O Allah, to You belongs all praise; You have clothed me with this shirt … You have clothed me with these trousers … You have clothed me with this ghutra … You have clothed me with this cap … You have clothed me with this mishlah.” Whatever new piece of clothing you don, praise Allah and say: “O Allah, to You belongs all praise; You have clothed me with it. I ask You for its good and the good for which it was made, and I seek refuge in You from its evil and the evil for which it was made.”

The garment might, after all, become a cause of harm: fire could seize one of its ends, spread through it, and then consume both the clothing and you; or it might contain poisonous elements of which you know nothing. What matters is that you say: “O Allah, I seek refuge in You from its evil and the evil for which it was made,” for a garment can indeed become a source of evil—driving its owner to pride and self-aggrandizement over others, or serving as a means of temptation, which is among the greatest forms of evil and corruption, like those garments in which some women excel in their designs in imitation of others.