Is it permissible for men to wear plain red clothes?
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds. May His peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.
According to scholarly consensus, it is permissible for men to wear plain red clothes if the red is combined with another color. However, our Madhab (Shafie) permits wearing plain red clothes, without considering it reprehensible, based on the following narration: Bara' (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah (PBUH) was of medium stature. I saw him wearing a red mantle. I have never seen anything more graceful than that." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Hanafi and Hanbali scholars are of the view that it is disliked for a Muslim man to wear plain red clothes. They have based this view on the following Hadith: Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As: "A man wearing two red garments passed the Prophet (PBUH) and gave him a greeting, but he did not respond to his greeting."{Reported by Abu Dawoud}.
However, Ibn Hajar said about the latter Hadith: "Its Isnad (Chain of transmitters) is Da`if (weak)……..the former Hadith is stronger because Bara` stated that he saw the Prophet (PBUH) wearing red mantle. Thus, it is possible that the Prophet (PBUH) didn`t respond to the greeting of the man wearing the two red garments for a reason other than wearing two red garments." {Fateh Al-Bari, V.1:485}.
Different Ahadeeth have been narrated concerning this matter. Some Ahadeeth indicate that wearing red is forbidden, whilst others indicate that it is permitted. Ibn Hajar mentioned seven opinions in this regard;however, evidences indicating permissibility are stronger and clearer, and this is why Maliki and some Hanbali scholars to adopt this view.
Ibn Qhodama (May Allah have mercy on him) said:"The Ahadeeth indicating permissibility are stronger and clearer. It is possible that the Prophet (PBUH) didn`t respond to the greeting of the man wearing the two red garments for a reason other than that their color was red because it is just like any other color." {Al-Moghni, V.1:42}.
It is worth pointing out that the garment referred to in this Fatwa is that dyed in red, not yellow or saffron. And Allah the Almighty knows best.