Surah 7. Al-A'raf, Ayah 31

Lit., "take to your adornment (zinah)". According to Raghib (as quoted in Lane III, 1279 f ), the proper meaning of zinah is "a [beautifying] thing that does not disgrace or render unseemly ... either in the present world or in that which is to come": thus, it signifies anything of beauty in both the physical and moral connotations of the word.

Beautiful apparel: zinat: adornments or apparel for beautiful living: construed to mean not only clothes that add grace to the wearer, but toilet and cleanliness, attention to hair, and other small personal details which no self-respecting man or woman ought to neglect when going solemnly even before a great human dignitary, if only out of respect for the dignity of the occasion. How much more important it is to attend to these details when we solemny apply our minds to the Presence of Allah. But the caution against excess applies: men must not go to prayer in silks or ornaments appropriate to women. Similary sober food, good and wholesome, is not to be divorced from offices of religion; only the caution against excess applies strictly. A dirty, unkempt, slovenly Faqir could not claim sanctity in Islam.