Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s) used to wear simple and inexpensive dress

Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s) used to wear simple and inexpensive dress, the type of dress generally worn by the poor and middle class Arabs of those days. Sometimes he wore dress of a quality even poorer than that! His intention always was to cover the body and not to show off grandeur of the dress! He sometimes wore summer apparel during winters and wore the winter apparels during the summers. In time of need, he would patch up his dresses with the bark of the date or pieces of leather. He never felt belittled wearing such clothes. Once he was wearing a cloak, which was having several patches. Some persons made remarks about this. He said,

“Wearing such tatters, it creates a feeling of humility in the heart and the people of the Faith will try to emulate me when they see me in such humble apparel!”

Al-Mas`ūdi writes that during the period of his Caliphate, he never wore a new dress! His normal dress consisted of a loincloth, cloak and a scarf. He preferred to wear the turban on his head. He used to say:

“The turban is the crown of the Arabs.”[1]

Statements of some persons are given here who saw Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s) on different occasions and had recorded about the type of dress he wore.

Jabir al-Ju`fi says that he saw Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s) wearing a black headgear on his head. One end of the turban was hanging on his chest and the other on his back.

`Amr ibn Marwan says that his father had told him that he saw `Ali (a.s) wearing a black turban on his head and both its ends were hanging at his back.

Yazid ibn Harith al-Fazari says that he saw the Imam (a.s) was wearing a white Egyptian turban on his head.

Abū-Hayyan says that he saw a thin cotton cap on the head of the Imam (a.s).

[1] Sīrat Ibn Hushām, Vol 2, Page 286

Ayyūb ibn Dinar says that his father told him that he had seen `Ali (a.s) wearing a loincloth and a scarf on his shoulders. On another occasion, he saw him wearing two scarves made in Najran.

Abhur ibn Harmūz says that his father saw the Imam (a.s) coming out of the Mosque at al-Kūfah wearing a loincloth half way between his feet and knees and was wearing a scarf on his shoulders.

In those days, generally this was the dress of the people. Therefore, at the Ghadir Khumm when the Prophet (a.s) raised `Ali (a.s) on his hands, the tradition says, that it was raised so much that the whiteness of the armpit was visible. The reason was that the Prophet (a.s) was wearing only a chador on his shoulders, which moved away while he raised `Ali (a.s).

Nawf al-Baqali says that he saw `Ali (a.s) wearing a shirt and wore a footwear made of the bark of date palm.

Ibn `Abbas says that he saw a torn footwear in the feet of `Ali (a.s) that he had also seen him repair.

`Ata Abū-Muhammad says that he saw the Imam (a.s) wearing a cloak of rough cloth.

Khalid Abū-Umayyah says that that the Imam’s loincloth was up to his knees.

`Abdullah ibn Abi-Hudhayl says that he saw on his shoulders a cloak made of rough cloth. The sleeves of the cloak were touching the tips of his fingers.

`Abd al-Jabbar ibn Mughirah says that Ummu-Kathirah told him that she had seen `Ali (a.s) that his loincloth was of coarse cloth and he wore a cloak of coarse cloth as well. Over the cloak, he wore a scarf.

Abul-`Ala’ the manumitted slave of Aslam says that he saw that `Ali (a.s) tied his loincloth above the umbilical region.

Abū-Malikah says that he once went to the presence of the Imam (a.s) and saw that he had tied his cloak like the loincloth around his waist. Over the cloak, he had tied a rope to keep it in place.

Qudamah Ibn `Attab says that he saw the Imam (a.s) wearing a white woolen cloak and had wrapped around his shoulders red striped shawls of Qatari origin. He wore a headgear of fine cloth.

Abū-²abyan says that he saw `Ali (a.s) wearing a yellow loincloth and was covering his shoulders with a flowery black shawl.

Zayd ibn Wahab says that he saw the Imam (a.s) emerging out of his house and his loincloth was having several patches.

Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Rahman says,

“`Ali (a.s) wore his ring on the right hand.”[1]

`Ali (a.s) used to wear either ruby or turquoise on his rings. He also used Chinese Gold and sometimes cornelian for his rings. On the cornelian, there used to be the engraving, “almulku lillah (Kingdom is Allah’s)”. In some traditions, it is said that the engraving used to be, “lillahi almulku.” He used to keep a whip in his hand. While delivering a sermon he used to take the support of a bow or a sword.

[1] Kifāyat al-Tālib, Page 25.