The way we dress (or undress) can negatively impact others. Both Islamic ethics and secular law acknowledge this. Islamically, for example, we know that the gaze affects the heart and mind. If society is saturated with images of people in a state of undress and the streets are full of men and women flaunting their bodies, this leads to corruption and widespread fasad. But even secular culture recognizes the negative consequences of such nudity. This is proven by the fact that schools and other institutions maintain strict dress codes. Also, all countries have indecent exposure laws. And there have even been numerous scientific studies expounded on the psychological and neurological harms of pornography.

The point of all this is to show that: Yes, your clothes matter and it is wrong and deeply destructive for feminists to claim that “women can dress or undress however they want and no one has the right to tell them otherwise.” Yes, people do have that right to tell women how to dress. In fact Western governments exercise that right to tell women (and men) how to dress when it comes to what they define as “indecent exposure.” So, if Western governments exercise that right, why can’t Islamic law? It’s the same underlying principle, except that what Western society considers “indecent” is not exactly what Islamic law considers as such. What Western society considers indecent is highly influenced by changing culture. In contrast, Islamic standards are based on the timeless wisdom of the Creator of human beings, who knows our nature and knows what is truly beneficial or harmful.

Consider the Quranic on the issue of women’s dress: