“And amongst [those matters] is that in the issue of obedience to the Mushrikeen, he did not understand the tafseel of the people of knowledge concerning it. So it is what is understood from his words is that which is in agreement with some of the Extremists (Ghullaat) on the issue of obedience (taa’ah), that is obedience to the Mushriks. Or obedience to the priests and rabbis (i.e. scholars). And from the examples of this is what he has mentioned in Surat ul-An’aam concerning the verse, “And if you were to obey them, you would be Mushriks”, so he says many things about this verse. And amongst them is the issue of the clothing of the fashion women and models, which are designed by the fashion agencies in Paris – using his (i.e Qutb’s) expression.

So he says that those who legislate for the women their clothing, such that in the morning they should wear such and such type of clothing, and in the evening this type of clothing and in the night this type of clothing, and at work this type of clothing and so on… Sayyid Qutb says, that his group of people, meaning the fashion designers, that they are gods (aalihah, plural of ilaah) because they have made the haraam to be halaal and so they are obeyed in that, and they made the halaal to be haraam, and so they are obeyed in that. So he (Qutb) says, that the Muslim woman who obeys them in this has taken them as objects of worship (aalihah), because she has obeyed them in making lawful what is unlawful and making unlawful what is lawful.

And there is no doubt that these words are baatil (false). Because when a woman wears forbidden clothes which have come from the direction of those designers, this does not at the same time mean she has believed that they are lawful (halaal) for her to wear. For the issue of takfir is in relation to the belief (I’tiqaad) that this thing that Allaah, the Majestic and Exalted, has made unlawful – is actually halaal…

So for example, a woman who wears clothing that reveals her bosoms somewhat and her legs, in front of the foreign men, following the fashion designers in this, then if she believes that this act is haraam, yet she is overcome and her Imaan is weak, then this is not kufr and she has not worshipped them. So he (Qutb) has made mere obedience to be kufr, and some of the Jamaa’at have adopted this saying from him, those who have exaggerated in the issue of ruling by other than what Allaah has revealed, (they have taken from him) in the issue of obedience, that is obedience to the fashion designers and the promoters…”