Ruling on clothes that contain letters written in English

Question: 13240

What is the ruling on clothes that contain words written in English and we do not know whether those letters or words have a bad meaning? Is this a kind of imitation of the kaafirs?

[This question was originally asked in Arabic]?

Answer

Praise be to Allah, and blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:

We have to ask about those words or letters that are written in languages other than Arabic, because they may have bad meanings that are detrimental to our morals. It is not permissible to wear clothes with English writing that is not in Arabic until after we have made sure that this writing is free of objectionable meanings and that it does not contain anything that is indecent, or anything that involves glorifying the kuffaar such as sports players or innovators who have introduced unprecedented things, and so on. If there is anything that implies veneration of the kaafirs then it is haraam and is not permitted. If there is anything that has a bad or indecent meaning, then that is also not permitted. Hence we must ask about the meaning of the words written on the garment before wearing it.