and a khimār and a petticoat(1) that had been colored with a touch of safflower dye(2).

For all these reasons the jurists have stated: “The ‘awrah must be covered with something that does not reveal the hue of the skin—such as a thick cloth, leather, or even parchment(3). If the covering is a sheer fabric through which the skin-color appears, it is not valid, for genuine concealment is not achieved thereby(4).”

Ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī, in Al-Zawājir 1/127, devoted a separate chapter to the ruling on a woman’s wearing a thin garment that outlines her skin, declaring it one of the major sins. He then cited the aforementioned hadith (p. 125) and commented: “Counting this among the major sins is obvious because of the severe warning attached to it, although I have not found anyone who stated this explicitly. Nevertheless, it is even more clearly established by what has already been mentioned regarding their imitation of men.”

I say: The hadiths that curse women who imitate men will be cited when we discuss the sixth condition.