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Does wearing a tight T-shirt or shirt in front of women—knowing that the chest, back, and stomach are not considered 'awrah'—fall under the scope of the Hadith "dressed yet naked"?

2 min readAlso available in العربية

What is permissible to expose of the body, it is permissible to wear what describes it or reveals it. What is not permissible to expose, it is not permissible for clothing except what covers it. The criterion for obligatory covering is to prevent the perception of skin color, not the description of its size. The latter is disliked for a woman and contrary to what is better for a man. As for tight clothing that describes the size of a woman's awrah and the allure of her body, it does not achieve the required covering in front of non-mahram men. It may be even more arousing and tempting than sheer clothing that reveals skin color. For this reason, scholars interpreted the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "clothed yet naked."

As for a woman wearing what describes her chest, abdomen, back, and so on, which is not awrah in front of other women, it is not haram in itself. However, it may become haram due to an incidental factor, such as the presence of lust or fear of fitnah. This is in accordance with the view of the majority of jurists that a woman's awrah in front of a Muslim woman is what is between the navel and the knee, similar to a man's awrah in front of another man. And that it is permissible to look at what is not awrah absolutely, except when there is lust or fear of fitnah. The meaning of lust here is: that the gaze is for the purpose of fulfilling a desire in her, and that a person likes to look at a beautiful face and enjoys it. So if one looks to enjoy that beauty, then it is a lustful gaze, and it is haram.

Some scholars have gone to the extent of saying that the ruling concerning a woman with another woman is like the ruling concerning a man with his mahram relatives. This is what Ibn al-Qattan chose.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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