Hadithcore
Sahih al-Bukhari, 2628
sahih

Narrated Aiman:

I went to `Aisha and she was wearing a coarse dress costing five Dirhams. `Aisha said, "Look up and see my slave-girl who refuses to wear it in the house though during the lifetime of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) I had a similar dress which no woman desiring to appear elegant (before her husband) failed to borrow from me."

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو نُعَيْمٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْوَاحِدِ بْنُ أَيْمَنَ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي أَبِي قَالَ، دَخَلْتُ عَلَى عَائِشَةَ ـ رضى الله عنها ـ وَعَلَيْهَا دِرْعُ قِطْرٍ ثَمَنُ خَمْسَةِ دَرَاهِمَ، فَقَالَتِ ارْفَعْ بَصَرَكَ إِلَى جَارِيَتِي، انْظُرْ إِلَيْهَا فَإِنَّهَا تُزْهَى أَنْ تَلْبَسَهُ فِي الْبَيْتِ، وَقَدْ كَانَ لِي مِنْهُنَّ دِرْعٌ عَلَى عَهْدِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم، فَمَا كَانَتِ امْرَأَةٌ تُقَيَّنُ بِالْمَدِينَةِ إِلاَّ أَرْسَلَتْ إِلَىَّ تَسْتَعِيرُهُ‏.‏

References2 variants
In-Book Reference
Book 51, Hadith 60
USC-MSA web (English) reference
Vol. 3, Book 47, Hadith 796 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
The Companions (may Allah be pleased with him) devoted their good deeds exclusively to Allah, Exalted is He, aspiring to His rewards only rather than worldly gains. Thus, Allah, Exalted is He, caused them to be the means to perfect the divine light of guidance bestowed upon humanity through the Prophet ﷺ, and rewarded them by conferring upon them abundant wealth and blessings. In this hadeeth, Ayman Al-Habashee Al-Makhzoomee narrated that he went to ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) while she was wearing a coarse dress costing five Dirhams. The Arabic word used in the hadeeth is Qitr, which referred to a reddish coarse cotton dress from Yemen. It was also said that Qitr meant a dress made of a coarse fabric or cotton in particular. Another saying was that the name Qitr was derived from a village in Bahrain called Qatar. The point is that such a dress was coarse, and its price was about five Dirhams (of silver). ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) disapprovingly said, “Look up and see my slave-girl who refuses to wear it in the house,” meaning that she looked down on such an inexpensive dress in the house. She (may Allah be pleased with her) then described the changed conditions in comparison to her past life conditions during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ. She added that during the lifetime of Allah's Messenger ﷺ she had a similar dress that the women of Al-Madeenah admired so much that no woman desiring to appear elegant (before her husband in their wedding) failed to borrow from her, since people were less fortunate and had smaller properties, and therefore perceived such inexpensive dress as elegant and expensive at that time. This underlines the changed life conditions and the riches acquired by Muslims after the conquests. Women used to borrow such a coarse dress to beautify themselves for their husbands in weddings, but ‘Aa’ishah’s slave-girl refused to wear such a dress in the house! It is deduced from the hadeeth that it is allowable to lend and borrow clothes, and the same goes for other precious jewelry and jewels for a bride and others. It is also inferred therefrom that a woman may wear elegant dresses inside her home and what some servants may wear. It also highlights the humbleness of ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) and the fact that she renounced worldly pleasures at times when she (may Allah be pleased with her) was given wealth. .