if you wanna make Muslim sims this is the post for you! PART 2 HOW TO DRESS MUSLIM SIMS with pictures!
PART 1 here for all the general rules explained.
if you, after reading all this still have any questions, or want a specific cc piece in this post, or want me to find you something, or make you a themed look book send me me an ask!
now, before we get into this, we have to agree on 4 things:
1- everything in this post is sourced from actual people! i spent weeks researching and talking to sheikhs and hijabi friends around the world. so this is the base on which each group of people builds its “acceptable Muslim look” on, you might not agree with some things, because your country/family doesn’t support them, it does not make these wrong :).
2- like all religions in the world, there are different types of Muslim followers, from the devoted followers to the non practicers and your degree of following kind of affects what you wear( i will absolutely not allow judgment on anything or anyone, if you have nothing nice to say, do as god has told you, and keep your judgment to yourself)
3- there is a HUGE difference between ARAB MUSLIMS and NON ARAB MUSLIMS, the main one being that Arabs have their own history of modesty that was there before Islam, so when the religion was introduced to Arabs the rules kind of meshed together, but these rules DID NOT transfer outside of the ARAB WORLD, its also the same for NON ARAB Muslims, you will find their history and culture altered the “dress code” of Muslims, that being said, there is no right or wrong, all of it is acceptable as long as they follow these rules ( that apply to anyone regardless of anything ):
it does not emphasize the body silhouette
it is not extremely bright colored or extremely decorated
it is covering from head to ankles
4- all of this applies, only if you are around people who are eligible for marriage, so all strangers + cousins (because you are allowed to marry your cousin in the religion). around your house thou, whether you are alone or with your parents ( or same gendered friends) you can wear whatever you want, even if it is just underwear.
things discussed in this essay (because it is an essay how did i write all this woah) :
1- how to dress Muslim female sims
types of head coverings (its not all called hijab) w/ examples in game.
what is NOT a head covering aka confusing traditional wear with Muslim wear .
the most popular type of head covering( contrary to popular beliefs ).
exclusive hijab wraps to Muslim communities of Africa.
mistakes simmers do when dressing their hijabi sims.
dressing non hijabi Muslim female sims.
2- how to dress Muslim male sims
what do men need to cover ( yes they need to cover a large area too).
examples on what is acceptable and what is not (looking at you speedos).
hairstyle rules ( YEP there are rules for that).
3- hair dye, piercings , tattoos ,eyebrows , beards, makeup( actually pretty simple but people confuse tradition with religion so they make it controversial) .
4- when we all fall asleep, what do we wear? or clothes at home
5- some instagram hijabi fashionistas and make up artists for Inspo!
1- how to dress Muslim female sims
types of head coverings (its not all called hijab) w/ examples in game :
yes, there are alot of different Islamic head covering, and no, they are not all called hijab! here are they!
*not to confuse the Shayla here with the Khaliji ( gulf area ) Shayla which is NOT A HIJAB its just their traditional wear ( more on that later )
AND, there are different types of hijabs styles! too many to show here, but here are some examples:
there is not alot of head covering cc or Muslim appropriate clothes in-game or cc wise but i tried to find them all these are by @aanhamdan93
this is the traditional niqab, its almost always black, you cover everything from head to toe except, your eyes, you have to wear gloves to cover hands, and long boots to cover legs .
this is also niqab but modernized, this is pretty popular in non arab muslim places, they love to wear it in color with beautiful dresses! this style is becoming popular in Egypt too! again, everything is covered except the eyes, and yes some people wear make up with it, and some people do not. there is no rule for that, it depends on the person.
this is a variation of niqab, but its shorter!
this has many names and uses, depending at which country you are in, this is chador, the colorful patterned variation is usually the casual everyday variant. in Egypt this is called isdal, and its specifically used as a quick way to cover up, when you need to pray, or open the door for people but your pajamas are too revealing, we do not go out with this :D.
casual hijab! as i explained before, hijab has many different styles, and with it, you can wear more variations of clothes like pants, dresses, jumpsuits…etc. you also you have a choice whether to cover you palms and feet, or not .
this one here is by @candysims4
this is a style of the hijab, its origin is the country of Syria! its a much slimmer version, typically worn with things that have collars, like winter coats, or some fancy dresses like this one by Sentate!
this is a style that originated in Egypt, its main purpose was to show off earnings lol. sometimes you wear turtle neck with this since your supposed to cover the neck , but some people do not. this one is also by aanhamdan
this is the shayla style, which is becoming popular between young hijabi girls, because it fits perfectly with the comfortable relaxed look ( the style in this picture is real my friend sent me a picture of this exact look color and all!) a hoodie, and a flowy skirt, with a cute cross bag is the most popular look for the young Muslim girls!
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what is NOT a head covering aka confusing traditional wear with Muslim wear:
in the African ,Asian and Arabic gulf region, they had distinctive traditional head wear before Islam was introduced, unfortunately like everything else, the rest of the world disregarded that and lumped it all together and it became covered head = hijab .
so a turban/ African head wraps ( dhuku/ gele/ iduku) /Arabic protective head wear ( shayla) are not Islamic head wear .
here are some more examples of what is not a Islamic head covering: beret, beanies, sun hats, hoods, and variations of turbans.
this look here is the traditional look of the gulf area, IT IS NOT HIJAB. as you can see in the pictures the abaya ( the black farasha style (butterfly style) long jacket)can be worn with out the shayla and the shayla typically shows half of the hair so it is not a hijab. it can be turned into a hijab by covering the front part of the hair.
the most popular type of head covering(contrary to popular beliefs) :
i know that most non Muslims think that the niqab and burka are the most popular but they are not ! i will not get into the fact that in Islam covering the face is NOT required each to their own, but the most popular type of head covering is the HIJAB and its variants. if you meet a Muslim head covered woman, 9 times out of 10 they will have a hijab on, yep.
and here is an in game look to the most popular look you will see in between most hijab wearing women.
not what you expected eh?
2 exclusive hijab wraps to Muslim communities of Africa:
as i explained before, African head wraps are not Islamic head wear but in countries ( with Muslim communities) like Egypt, Ghana, Algeria,Nigeria, morocco,Senegal, Sudan, Mali,Ethiopia Somalia,…etc, where they share a big portion of the continents ancient history, things have meshed together, producing a unique hijab variant, and they are extremely similar to traditional head wrap styles, but altered to fit the Islam rules of head cover which is to completely cover the hair.
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mistakes simmers do when dressing their hijab sims:
now lets talk about the sims 4 exclusively:
lets admit it, CAS is hard anyway for regular old sims, and it could take hours to make one sim fully dressed and styled, and then you make a Muslim sim and things are instantly harder, because almost nothing is covering enough, and you as a non Muslim person are not sure if its ok, if one part of your sim is showing or not.
but worry not my friend, i have made simple slides to show you, what is ok and what is not!
the most common mistake i see with this hijab, shoulders have to be covered but don’t worry its an easy fix.
some other mistakes that you could face, you cannot show the chest, shoulder midriff, or arms with a hijab.
no bra-lets, or tube tops, or crop tops, allowed beyond this point.
now lets do a simple exercise, how to fix things to be hijab appropriate:
just add an accessory under shirt!
Now for bottoms lets observe:
*can you tell i was watching the good place while making these “not a girl”
no you cannot wear short skirts, or shorts, or sheer things, even if you have accessory pants under them. “but that skirt is long you” say “it has a huge slit” i answer..
so to recap no short skirts, no shorts, no skinny distressed jeans, no jeggings, no slits, and no sheer stuff .
but what length of skirt is acceptable? here we go :
generally accepted length is anything from the knee and under, a real life pro tip from real hijabi peeps, you can make any skirt casual by wearing sneakers with it, and you can turn the skirt to formal by wearing long boots with them (yes boots with a skirt gasp!! it actually looks nice so try it out!)
what about pants? lets see:
nothing tight, or body hugging, and for obvious reasons non padded distressed pants are not allowed. you can wear pants/ jeans that have a little “give” in them or wide ones, if its distressed then padded ofc .
just to clarify more here are some examples of what is not allowed:
*one thing to note some people consider wearing pants all together is not allowed but the majority are ok with it and the many sheikhs i talked to said it was fine as long as its loose.
dressing non hijabi Muslim female sims.
this is where the different rules of modesty between countries kind of overlap. the fact is some Muslim women that do not cover their hair and that’s ok. in america or Lebanon or Malaysia for example, they can wear shorts and tube tops, while some others in the same places do not wear these, and wear clothes that cover up. if you do not wear modest clothes you might get judged by other Muslims, and if you do you might get judged by non Muslims, that is why it really depends on where you live and where are you from, because some countries have rules against revealing clothes, that you could get jailed for wearing. another thing is that it also depends on the person, and how much they want to follow the rules of religion.
let me give an example i am a non hijabi Egyptian and i live currently in Egypt this is what i wear here
*keep in mind that i was in collage here you can clearly tell how much my mental state went “plop” by how i dressed.
but i lived previously in another country that is more open called UAE and this is what i would wear
*got critisized here too because how dare i not hide my huge thighs ugh you really cant win.. oh what i would do to wear skirts again…
so as you can see medium size difference, but if i wore what i wore in UAE in Egypt, i would get my ear blown off for dressing revealing-ly by family/ people. i hope this gets the point across.
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2- how to dress Muslim male sims
what do men need to cover:
just like Muslim women men also have to follow strict dress rules which are :
anything between the belly button and the knees has to be covered
it does not emphasize the body silhouette
it is not extremely bright colored or extremely decorated
here is a visualization of what has to be covered:
here is THE ONLY PIECE OF CC THAT FITS ALL THIS that i could find it is a perfect example of a perfect pair of pants the cover the right area:
examples on what is acceptable and what is not :
other acceptable clothes they show a little under the belly button but its not crazy amount, in real life guys would pull these up and all would be well lol
now these are things you cannot dress a Muslim male sim in sorry but no short shorts, or speedos, or tight low pants.
hairstyle rules ( YEP there are rules for that):
a thing most men (where i live at least ) have no idea about is hair styles ,although its not complicated, there is one rule, an that is to keep all you hair one length. it can be as long as you want, or as short as you want, the texture does not matter, just as long as you keep it one length .
one popular style, is the shaven sides, which suddenly became a trend in the Arab world. suddenly all guys had it and suddenly all guys are surprised that its not allowed! another two hairstyles not allowed are, rat-tails and Mohawks. though you can have a Mohawk, as-long as you don’t shave the sides.
hair dye, piercings , tattoos ,eyebrows , beards, makeup
there are no rules for beards, some people will try to convince you that a beard is mandatory, but it is not you can be clean shaven, or have a big long beard, as long as it is clean and neatly trimmed.
*why are the sideburns the only one that look good on this sim what
for eyebrows you can have any shape of eyebrows as long as you do not remove them completely.
*my sims self sure looks weird without eyebrows woah
hair dye, piercings , tattoos :
there is a general rule that says you can do anything to your body as long as it does not permanently alter your looks. so that means permanent tattoos are a big no no but temporary tattoos and henna are ok, and hair dyes and piercings are ok because hair dye fades and piercing holes close up.
very debatable subject depends on the person themselves, usually uber religious people do no wear a lick of make up or change anything about them even if temporarily, still almost every one wears make up now, you might get judged for it if its too heavy or too colorful, but thats just some peoples opinions, i do recommend you check out the Muslim make up artists i have linked at the end of this to get a general idea on what is popular with Muslim girls.
*all of the things are ok ALL OF THE THINGS DONT LET ANYONE TELL YOU OTHER WISE
when we all fall asleep, what do we wear? or clothes at home:
simple! wear whatever you want! unless you have guests over then you need to cover up .. but home alone or around your parents or siblings or husband or girlfriends/buddies:
*all of this is ok lol personally i either wear jeans and a tank or sort shorts and a bra there is no between just whatever my mood is about
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some instagram hijabi fashionistas and make up artists for Inspo! :
and for a more alternative inspo
AND MY FAVE BILQEES AN ACTUAL QUEEN
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and thats it! ( i say that as if i wrote one sentence lol)
i tried to cover everything and be as detailed as possible hopefully this makes you inspired to have more hijabi sims in your game!
