God has made it compulsory for us through His holy Book and through the preachings of the Prophet to put on a decent dress during our visits to the holy places. He says “O the children of Adam be descently dressed when you visit the mosques’.” The Prophet says “If God has placed any one in favourable circumstances let him show the signs of prosperity by dressing well. Let him be clean and well-perfumed when he visits the holy places for seeking further favours from Him.” There are many traditions to this effect. I can- not quote them all. If I do so the matter will prolong.
Similarly if any one wants to visit the Imams, he should be neat and tidy. He should put on the best dress and use the best possible perfume that he can get. Let him exhibit hibit the blessings of God which He has conferred on him. If he has received some consideration at the hands of the Imams then it is his duty to make a demonstration of it by visiting them in a ceremonious dress. This is out of respect for the position they hold.
God has enjoined on us that before we stand up for prayers we should make the necessary pre- parations by putting on a clean dress and perform- ing ablutions. For, when we visit the house of God and stand up before Him we should main- tain the dignity of the occasion. Similarly when we pay a visit to the Imams we should take the necessary precaution in the matter of cleanliness and decency of dress. If we do not take this pre- caution we shall be belittling the dignity of the Imams. He who thinks lightly of these things exposes himself to the wrath of God. For, to be clean on such occasions is traditional with us; nay, it is the necessary part of our religion. The Prophet says “God likes cleanliness and He hates clumsy fellows.” Hence, in all such matters it is our duty to do what God likes us to do and to re- frain from doing what He does not like. In short, we should observe the rules of decency when we visit the Imams who are the medium of our approach to God and on whom we look for inter- cession for us on the day of judgement.