In some hadiths, the Prophet is reported to have urged Muslims to differentiate themselves from non-Muslims in a number of ways. With time, this command was implemented in contravention of the Prophet’s intentions so as to force non-Muslims to don attire unlike that of Muslims; as a result, attire became a way of drawing borders between Muslim and non-Muslim. Thus, converting to and from Islam was closely associated with changing attire. For example, reforms of attire imposed from above, from those of Sultan Selim III to those of Atatürk, were interpreted as apostasy, while it became a tradition to present one who converted to Islam with a set of clothes. This article discusses the intimate relationship between changing religions and changing clothes.
2013/ 
Sayı 9