the first holds that it is unlawful, a position authenticated—and indeed endorsed—by al-Nawawī. The second considers it merely reprehensible; al-Rāfiʿī declared this sound in one passage. Yet the sound, indeed the correct ruling, is that stated by al-Nawawī: it is forbidden—rather, as I have already indicated, it is a major sin. I later found some scholars who catalogue the major sins including it among them, and that is plainly correct.
Ibn Ḥajar writes in Fatḥ al-Bārī (10/273–274) while commenting on the aforementioned ḥadīth of Ibn ʿAbbās—Ḥadīth 3, in its second wording, “The Messenger of Allah cursed the men who imitate women and the women who imitate men”—and his words, in summary, are as follows:
• Al-Ṭabarī said: It is impermissible for men to imitate women in clothing and adornment that are unique to women, and vice versa.
• Shaykh Abū Muḥammad Ibn Abī Jamrah said: The apparent wording forbids imitation in every respect, yet other evidences show that what is intended is imitation in dress, certain traits, movements, and the like—not imitation in virtuous acts. He added: The wisdom behind cursing those who imitate is that they divert a thing from the form in which the Wisest of Judges has placed it. This is the same point indicated in the cursing of women who add hair extensions by his words: “those who alter Allah’s creation.”¹