Borrowing Bridal Dresses: Setting New Trends (Hadith No. 2294)

Bismillah.

Today’s narration is of much benefit, especially in our ‘desi’ society. If only we were to act upon it..

Volume 3, Book 47, Number 796:
Narrated Aiman:
I went to ‘Aisha (radiallaahu `anhaa) and she was wearing a coarse dress costing five Dirhams. ‘Aisha (radiallaahu `anhaa) said, “Look up and see my slave-girl who refuses to wear it in the house though during the lifetime of Allah’s Apostle (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) I had a similar dress which no woman desiring to appear elegant (before her husband) failed to borrow from me.”

To summarize, Aisha (radiallaahu `anhaa) is upset and sort of astonished at her slave girl’s behavior when she refuses to wear that ‘coarse’ dress. According to her, it was similar to another dress that she had which brides used to borrow from her to wear on their weddings during the time of the Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam). While it is understandable that times had changed and Muslims had access to more wealth now so obviously slaves had better standards too.. but the point I’d like to reiterate is that of borrowing the bridal dress.

Without going in to statistical details, we know how much an average bridal dress costs these days.. and the number of times it’s worn by the owner is less than two in most cases. They probably don’t give it away because of some ’emotional attachment’ to it, and those in need don’t borrow it from them for fear of ‘what will people say?’. The amount of money spent (read: wasted) on these dresses is just sad. Really. We need to bring about a change in our society.. for the better. It’ll start with us. It’ll start with me.

Having said that, if anyone wants to borrow my bridal dress (worn only once), they may feel free to contact me. :D

Spread the word, let’s inspire some positive change inshaAllah. :)