First of all, we would like to refer to an important point regarding the requirements of the Muslim woman’s dress. Certain conditions have to be fulfilled in order to render the woman’s dress Islamic and preserve her chastity. Those conditions may simply be mentioned as follows:
1- It must cover the whole body.
2- It must not be tight or transparent.
3- It must not delineate the parts of the body, especially those parts that are sexually attractive.
4- It must not be a dress that is usually worn by men.
Sheikh Muhammad Saleh Al-Munajjid, the prominent Saudi Islamic lecturer and author states that:
“Muslim woman have to wear clothes that will conceal the body and her `awrah (parts of the body which should not exposed in front of others); she must not wear transparent or see-through clothes or tight clothes that show the shape of the body. Pants or trousers fall into the later category; so for this reason it is not permissible for women to wear pants, unless she wears over them a wide or loose shirt.
One of the aims of Islam is to protect people’s `awrahs and avoid uncovering them, because taking this matter lightly is one of the means of falling into that which Allah has forbidden, namely zina (fornication or adultery) and the things that lead to it.
The Muslim woman has to adhere to the Islamic etiquette in the way she dresses, moves and speaks. Allah Almighty says: “O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (veils) all over their bodies.” (Al-Ahzab:59)”