Riyad as-Salihin · Chapter 365
باب تحريم لبس الرجل ثوباً مزعفراً
This short chapter draws a line around one specific habit of dress: men wearing garments dyed with saffron, a bright golden-yellow colour. The Arabic word is mu'asfar, cloth coloured with safflower or saffron. The point is not that yellow is sinful in itself, but that the Prophet (peace be upon him) marked this particular look as something believing men should leave aside.
Notice how the second hadith gives us the reason: these were the garments of the disbelievers, a badge of an identity that did not belong to the believer. The lesson sits in the lane of character and identity, that a Muslim carries himself in a way that does not borrow the markers of disbelief. The finer details of which colours and fabrics are involved belong to the scholars; what we take here is the heart of it, that how we present ourselves quietly says who we belong to.
Hadith 1798
Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) said:
عن أنس رضي الله عنه قال: نهى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أن يتزعفر الرجل. ((متفق عليه)).
The Prophet (ﷺ) prohibited men from wearing saffron-dyed clothes. [Al- Bukhari and Muslim].
In plain words
The Prophet forbade men from wearing clothes dyed with saffron. It marks out a particular look that believing men were told to leave aside.
Reference : Riyad as-Salihin 1798 In-book reference : Book 17, Hadith 288
Hadith 1799
'Abdullah bin 'Amr bin Al-'As (May Allah be pleased with them) said:
وعن عبد الله بن عمرو بن العاص رضي الله عنه قال: رأى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم علي ثوبين معصفرين فقال: "أمك أمرتك بهذا؟" قلت: أغسلهما؟ قال: "بل احرقهما". وفي رواية فقال: "إن هذا من ثياب الكفار فلا تلبسها" ((رواه مسلم)).
The Prophet (ﷺ) saw me dressed in two saffron-coloured garments and asked, "Has your mother commanded you to wear these?" I asked him, "Shall I wash them out?" He replied, "You had better set them to fire." Another narration is: "These are garments of the disbelievers. So do not wear them." [Muslim].
In plain words
Seeing a young man in two saffron-coloured garments, the Prophet discouraged him and, in another wording, called them the dress of the disbelievers and told him not to wear them. The point is that a believer does not borrow the markers of disbelief in how he dresses.
Reference : Riyad as-Salihin 1799 In-book reference : Book 17, Hadith 289