(This article was originally written in 1929 for the journal Mar’arif of Azam Garh. In
1940 it was reprinted in the journal Tarjumanul Qur’an. It was subsequently included
in the author’s book Tafheemat (vol. II), from where it has been translated)
Viewed exclusively in relation to the natural need which first prompted man to use it,
with the cultural super additions to it left out of account, the thing called dress would
appear to have just two functions.
1. To provide a covering—since man has an innate sense of shame and modesty—
for certain parts of the body; and
2. To protect the body against the impact of the weather.
A dress which meets these twin needs should, in its simple form, be the dress of all
places since the bodies of all human beings, as also the obvious and convenient
methods of covering them, are alike. At most, for climatic reasons, there could be this
difference that the warm regions have dresses which are lighter and cover a lesser
part of other body, and the cold regions’ dresses which are heavier and cover a
greater part of the body.
Available information about the earliest human being also shows that in the times
when dress catered only to the original, natural needs of man, it had no great
diversity of shapes. The little diversity it did have was due largely to climatic
difference. But as human consciousness developed and man marched towards
civilization, as new resources were discovered and industries set up, and as that
human faculty called taste became cultivated, certain super additions were made to
the original dress. And since the new influences had varied in quality and magnitude
from nation to nation, the super additions which different nations made to the original
dress came to be different as well.
EIGHT DETERMINANTS
It is impossible to enumerate all the major and minor factors which cause the birth,
change, and evolution of variously-shaped dress among various peoples. In a span of
several thousand years, the collective life of nation and the personal lives of the
members of each nation come under countless influences, internal and external, which
are nowhere recorded. Some of them are too subtle to be perceived even. But if we
skip details and concentrate on the principal factors which accustom different nations
to different styles of dress, we shall find that they divide into eight categories.
1. Geographical conditions, which compel the inhabitants of a country to
adopt a particular kind of dress and living.
2. Moral and religious nations, whose divergence make nations use
dissimilar dresses.
3. Taste, the natural faculty of taste is, in the case of each nation, worked
upon by peculiar influences. It, therefore, develops in each nation differently.
As a result the likes and dislikes of nations differ.
4. The mode of life, which, too, develops distinctively in the case of each
nation, conforming as it does to the distinctive geographical, economic,
intellectual, and moral conditions of that nation. Consequently, each nation
uses a dress which is best suited to her mode of life.
5. The economic situation. This includes a nation’s general means of living,
her vocations and industries, her strong or weak financial position, etc. The
dress of each nation is closely related to the state of her economy and change
with a change in the latter.
6. Culture and refinement. Each nation exists on a certain level of culture
and refinement and her dress necessarily keeps to that level.
7. National traditions, by means of which one generation inherits from
another a particular style of living and dress, and, altering that style here and
there, bequeaths it to the coming generation. This continuity in the
phenomena of life is actually a guarantee of continued national existence.
Naturally, it is held dear by every nation.
8. Extraneous influences, which are exercised upon the thoughts and living
patterns of every nation as she come into contact with other nations. But the
nature and extent of these influences are determined largely by the political,
intellectual, and moral climate of the nation in question.
These are the main factors which have a rigorous control not only over the dress of a
nations but over her whole social life. The dress of each nation is the product of their
combined operation.
TWO FUNDAMENTAL FACTS
Two basic facts emerge from the foregoing analysis.
One, that dress is not merely an external device for covering and protecting the body,
it is also rooted deep in the psychology, culture, civilization, traditions, and social
setting of a nation. It is as a matter of fact, a manifestation of the spirit which informs
the body of a nation. It is through her dress that a nation articulates her nationality
and introduces herself as a collectivity before the world.
Two, that the above mentioned factors, with the exception of the first (geographical
conditions) are, in respect of every nation, undergoing a constant, though
imperceptible, change. Slowly but surely, their change and evolution affect not only
the dress but the whole gamut of the national life. A little elaboration will make this
point clear.
When a nation advances in the field of knowledge and the arts, achieves
enlightenment of thought, develops her industry, commerce, and craftsmanship,
attains economic prosperity, make closer contacts with other nations and learns from
their morality, culture, and mode of living various kinds of lessons, then a natural
process of evolution is touched off in her social life: her sentiments change, her taste
and manners improve, and her way of life acquires grace and elegance. She devises
new methods to meet the newly-arisen needs and express her respect for the national
traditions in more benefiting forms. With gradual development taking place in all
spheres of life, her dress, in stuff and style, becomes more tasteful, attractive, and
decorous. At no stage of this evolutionary process is the need felt to summon a
conference or Parliament and push through it a resolution which would prescribe a
particular shape or style of dress for the whole nation. Automatically, under the
impact of the jointly operating social factors, the old forms of dress are modified, new
forms come into vogue, and the national taste and temperament, in keeping with their
true inclination, go on refining the dress.
CHANGE, NATURAL AND UNNATURAL
This, then, is the only natural way in which a national dress is born, changed, and
evolved. There is an artificial or unnatural way also, namely, compelling a nation to
abandon her dress and take some other nation’s dress as her own. As for change, it
would occur in both cases. But there is a world of difference between the two.......
1940 it was reprinted in the journal Tarjumanul Qur’an. It was subsequently included
in the author’s book Tafheemat (vol. II), from where it has been translated)
Viewed exclusively in relation to the natural need which first prompted man to use it,
with the cultural super additions to it left out of account, the thing called dress would
appear to have just two functions.
1. To provide a covering—since man has an innate sense of shame and modesty—
for certain parts of the body; and
2. To protect the body against the impact of the weather.
A dress which meets these twin needs should, in its simple form, be the dress of all
places since the bodies of all human beings, as also the obvious and convenient
methods of covering them, are alike. At most, for climatic reasons, there could be this
difference that the warm regions have dresses which are lighter and cover a lesser
part of other body, and the cold regions’ dresses which are heavier and cover a
greater part of the body.
Available information about the earliest human being also shows that in the times
when dress catered only to the original, natural needs of man, it had no great
diversity of shapes. The little diversity it did have was due largely to climatic
difference. But as human consciousness developed and man marched towards
civilization, as new resources were discovered and industries set up, and as that
human faculty called taste became cultivated, certain super additions were made to
the original dress. And since the new influences had varied in quality and magnitude
from nation to nation, the super additions which different nations made to the original
dress came to be different as well.
EIGHT DETERMINANTS
It is impossible to enumerate all the major and minor factors which cause the birth,
change, and evolution of variously-shaped dress among various peoples. In a span of
several thousand years, the collective life of nation and the personal lives of the
members of each nation come under countless influences, internal and external, which
are nowhere recorded. Some of them are too subtle to be perceived even. But if we
skip details and concentrate on the principal factors which accustom different nations
to different styles of dress, we shall find that they divide into eight categories.
1. Geographical conditions, which compel the inhabitants of a country to
adopt a particular kind of dress and living.
2. Moral and religious nations, whose divergence make nations use
dissimilar dresses.
3. Taste, the natural faculty of taste is, in the case of each nation, worked
upon by peculiar influences. It, therefore, develops in each nation differently.
As a result the likes and dislikes of nations differ.
4. The mode of life, which, too, develops distinctively in the case of each
nation, conforming as it does to the distinctive geographical, economic,
intellectual, and moral conditions of that nation. Consequently, each nation
uses a dress which is best suited to her mode of life.
5. The economic situation. This includes a nation’s general means of living,
her vocations and industries, her strong or weak financial position, etc. The
dress of each nation is closely related to the state of her economy and change
with a change in the latter.
6. Culture and refinement. Each nation exists on a certain level of culture
and refinement and her dress necessarily keeps to that level.
7. National traditions, by means of which one generation inherits from
another a particular style of living and dress, and, altering that style here and
there, bequeaths it to the coming generation. This continuity in the
phenomena of life is actually a guarantee of continued national existence.
Naturally, it is held dear by every nation.
8. Extraneous influences, which are exercised upon the thoughts and living
patterns of every nation as she come into contact with other nations. But the
nature and extent of these influences are determined largely by the political,
intellectual, and moral climate of the nation in question.
These are the main factors which have a rigorous control not only over the dress of a
nations but over her whole social life. The dress of each nation is the product of their
combined operation.
TWO FUNDAMENTAL FACTS
Two basic facts emerge from the foregoing analysis.
One, that dress is not merely an external device for covering and protecting the body,
it is also rooted deep in the psychology, culture, civilization, traditions, and social
setting of a nation. It is as a matter of fact, a manifestation of the spirit which informs
the body of a nation. It is through her dress that a nation articulates her nationality
and introduces herself as a collectivity before the world.
Two, that the above mentioned factors, with the exception of the first (geographical
conditions) are, in respect of every nation, undergoing a constant, though
imperceptible, change. Slowly but surely, their change and evolution affect not only
the dress but the whole gamut of the national life. A little elaboration will make this
point clear.
When a nation advances in the field of knowledge and the arts, achieves
enlightenment of thought, develops her industry, commerce, and craftsmanship,
attains economic prosperity, make closer contacts with other nations and learns from
their morality, culture, and mode of living various kinds of lessons, then a natural
process of evolution is touched off in her social life: her sentiments change, her taste
and manners improve, and her way of life acquires grace and elegance. She devises
new methods to meet the newly-arisen needs and express her respect for the national
traditions in more benefiting forms. With gradual development taking place in all
spheres of life, her dress, in stuff and style, becomes more tasteful, attractive, and
decorous. At no stage of this evolutionary process is the need felt to summon a
conference or Parliament and push through it a resolution which would prescribe a
particular shape or style of dress for the whole nation. Automatically, under the
impact of the jointly operating social factors, the old forms of dress are modified, new
forms come into vogue, and the national taste and temperament, in keeping with their
true inclination, go on refining the dress.
CHANGE, NATURAL AND UNNATURAL
This, then, is the only natural way in which a national dress is born, changed, and
evolved. There is an artificial or unnatural way also, namely, compelling a nation to
abandon her dress and take some other nation’s dress as her own. As for change, it
would occur in both cases. But there is a world of difference between the two.......