I first received such an e-mail in far 2012 when we just started Annah Hariri. I was very pleasantly surprised and took my time to write a long reply with quotes and Quran and Bibles references. I think that that time my reply simply put the question sender off. 
In the run of 5 years Annah Hariri is existing, those questions about permissibility of wearing our dresses by Christian, Jewish or simply modest loving women were coming. When I had received that 1st letter in 2012 I thought that it was rather an exception and misinformation but now I see it is more like a common stereotype. And I can't understand where it is coming from?
What is your opinion about why non-muslim women are afraid to buy & wear modest dresses? Why do they attribute our dresses to muslim ladies only?
What will be your reply to the question I receive lots: "I am not Muslim but can I wear your dresses Annah?"
I would love to read replies from women of all faith in the comments!
December 15, 2017 — Hanna Alhariri

Comments

Karen said:

I am Christian. The clothing is beautiful, practical & yes, modest which is promoted in Christianity too. Women might be hesitant in case any styles unknowingly reflect specifically Muslim custom or culture. I would imagine those who question whether they can wear it want to be assured that they wouldn’t be disrespectful in some way or appropriating culture.

Karen said:

I am Christian. The clothing is beautiful, practical & yes, modest which is promoted in Christianity too. Women might be hesitant in case any styles unknowingly reflect specifically Muslim custom or culture. I would imagine those who question whether they can wear it want to be assured that they wouldn’t be disrespectful in some way or appropriating culture.

michal schartz said:

My mom and grew up in the dirty 30’s and worked outside so she always wore hair scarves. I am part native with thick hair that can’t be washed every day so I wear hair scarves and when I moved to a different area and found out some people considered them ethnic clothes I was taken back. It has been harder and harder over the years to buy modest, beautiful, fashionable, clothing for women and impossible for children, I learned to sew so I could have nice dresses to wear, when I was still part of society. I am too large to wear your dresses right now but am steadily loosing weight and and as soon as i can get into them i will be back. It has been a long time since I have wanted to buy dresses, get dressed up and go out. I admire your fashion elegance.

Lambie said:

For me..I think some of the styles or dresses would only look good with a hijab. So I wonder if the styles would look good on me. I would even like to wear one for style. But it is so seen as a muslim only thing that im hesitant.

Tabitha said:

I think she ask because you tag your site to be a Muslim site. Meanwhile alot of Christian also dress in a decent way. Also we see some Muslim that also dress in an indecent way. I think dressing decently is not only about religion but also personality

Melissa Haas said:

These dresses are beautiful, graceful and feminine. Every woman should feel welcome to wear them. I own two and without fail receive compliments each time I wear them. I am a Christian (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)

Sarah said:

As a catholic, I believe modesty belongs to everyone! Your dresses are beautiful and allow for freedoms not available in secular fashion.

Sandy Hernandez said:

Hi I am a Christian and I love that I have found this beautiful modest clothes, now days is hard for me to find modest clothing my only issue is that I am short 5”2 and not so thin. I wonder if you could do outfits that could help ladies like me to look beautiful modest and elegant. Thank you so much and beautiful work, God bless you.

Nataliia said:

Hello, I am Christian Orthodox and I would like to say that we are not afraid of wearing Muslim dresses. I think that question was just an act of politeness.
P.S. If you are reading my message I would like to say that vyshyvanka is not Slavic type of dress. It is Ukrainian. I wish you many success in your business. Thank you.

Joyce said:

Hi Hannah, I am a lover of elegance and modesty. Which your brand is all about. I am a devout Christain and I love your outfit because any woman or lady of faith, who loves decency will appreciate the brand first of all, because moderacy and decency is what our faith is about. I have over 12 pieces of your outfit, and hoping to get more, because it fits perfectly for church services and I don’t have to watch over my back if I am provoking anyone with my outfit.

Ama said:

Hello Annah, thank you for these modest beautiful godly dresses to begin with. I am not a muslim but i believe in a woman dressed properly and covered up modestly; it is simply beautiful and speaks volume!! I must say shopping for such modest womens clothing is kind of not existing. I just happen to find your site advertised on face book, I was a little skeptical but i was so impressed with what i was seeing i went for it. i placed my first order on Jan 21st 2020 and got it on Jan 25th 21 it was delivered; a day before the expected date. Wow!! It was like receiving gold!! Beautiful fabric, well tailored dress. It was a little too long and do not wear high heels but hey i just love love it. I cant wait to wear them.I ordered 2 And i will be coming back for more. Keep up with the good, you and your team and God bless you!! By the way this is my first ever review or comment over the internet; I could’nt help it, I had to say something! Thank you Your customer for life. Ama.

Alicia Gonzales said:

I love this article because I was just looking up modest clothing for my daughter she’s actually pretty stylish but she’s a pretty strict Christian who personally wants to dress more and more modestly and I was helping her look up modest dress online and of course certain Muslim outfits pop up and some of them are very beautiful but I didn’t know if it was inappropriate to wear them.

Zanele said:

I am a Christian and for the first time I have found a place where I can buy modest clothing. I have been looking for such clothing for a long time. May God bless you.

Maria Laya said:

Your recent post Hannah is so touching on how you help your employees survive this pandemic financial problems of your business
What you are doing is great
I am Catholic and I can’t wait to get your dresses

Maria

Judy Partipilo Marth said:

I am Italian-American, Christian and love beautiful clothes! I have worn Indian saris because they are beautiful and feminine to the delight of my Indian friends. These clothes are so very beautiful and nothing in the style specifically says “Muslim” to me. They are just beautiful, feminine clothes that happen to be of modest design. I just received the first of 3 orders and I cannot wait to wear it!!! I am a cantor in my church and can wear any of these designs when I sing for Mass. Although my church is not strict – I can even wear slacks – but I am expected to dress appropriately, no short skirts or sleeveless. I’m so glad I found you and I know I will get many compliments on my outfits!!!

Elizabeth said:

When I came to your site I asked the same question. If the dresses had significant meaning for those of the muslim faith, I didn’t want to taint that importance by wearing the dresses out of context. I was happy to read how many people have commented saying “If a woman wants to be modest then she should be allowed to, regardless of religion.” Your clothes are gorgeous and regardless of how or why someone came to your site I’m glad we can all enjoy your beautiful products.

Rosemary said:

I am a Christian woman who finds your clothing especially the dresses quite modest yet professional attire without revealing shape or being to tight. Your clothes are lovely, affordable and quite fashionable to compliment any women. So glad I found you signed new customer.

Michelle said:

I just want to say as a Christian woman I love your dresses. I often get compliments wearing your attire to the temple and I also get compliments in church. I do not see that religion should determine how we look at eachother or that ethnicity should be what determines relationships. I feel we are all children of God and never thought twice about ordering your dresses. I was so excited to find your site. I was looking for modest dresses and your company popped up on my facebook feed. I feel like you are doing wonderful work sharing your religion, culture, and talents with the world! Thank You!

Barbara Smith said:

Hello,

Thank you for your timely response and sending the blog to express the concerns of other ladies with the same inquiry. I too thought the dressing style would be more associated with the Muslim faith but I also want to know how these clothes would look on a plus size girl for most of your models are thinner than I. I too, like the modesty of the clothing and the whimsical flow that it has in the movement of the garment. I hope that my questions did create a error in my asking, if I did offend, I please accept my apology.

Barbara

Minnie Warren said:

I am Christian and I do so respect the Muslim Culture and attire. But, my love for the clothing is because of my own personal clothing style, love for flowing, lovely long lines and yes definitely modest for my personal body of that style. It happens to be an integral part of the Muslim culture and again I respect that and would never deliberately be disrespectful but it never crossed my mind really when I decided I loved Anna Hariri. The colors, flow, comfort and flattering styles are what drew me to them. I congratulate Ms. Hariri, she has a winner for entrepreneurship and, me and my clothing tastes.

Jennie said:

I think anymore people are very afraid of others accusing them of cultural appropriation. Where I see imitation as the sincerest form of flattery, others see it is insulting, like someone not from a cultural or religious group trying to steal an identity and make it their own. I see the point and I also don’t. I think your clothes are lovely and stylish! It is nice to see modest, modern, stylish clothing for those of us who feel more comfortable being covered.

Mongoos said:

I am Buddhist, I find these dresses styilish, that`s all. My simple concern is if they have a special meaning for the Muslim, and therefore it would result as offensive wearing them simply for a of style choice. In a way as if someone wore a nun dress, I think it would be outrageous for a Christian.
Advise needed!

Laura said:

Your dresses are beautiful. They are appropriate for work. It is hard to find dresses that your first thought is “I like this! It looks great!” Rather than “It’s only ok but it meets my criteria to stay midest”. It comes down to the fabric and style choices – which let you go from work to school to wherever you need to be – and look great without compromise!

Sarah Isles said:

I appreciate the models who are not wearing hijab. As a Christian, I am interested in the modest dress. However, wearing a hijab is not a sign of modesty in the US, it is a purely religious garment. I am aware Muslims wear the hijab out of modesty, but if a Christian were to wear a hijab people would not think “oh what a modest woman,” but they would think “oh, a Muslim.” I cannot picture myself wearing a hijab, since it would be a betrayal to the witness of my religion. Perhaps in the future hijab will become more fashionable for women of all faiths. Currently I wish to see how the dress looks without a hijab. What does the neck line look like? I cannot picture myself in the dress if the woman wearing it is in hijab, since I do not picture myself in hijab. Also, the model should probably have her hair up sometimes. Many of the dresses are more formal, and hair down is an informal look.

Miss M.E Swinchatt said:

I don’t buy the dresses because they are modest, or that I want to be modest. I buy them because they are beautiful, elegant and in pretty colours and prints. Who ever posted about covering the body to prevent lustful sin, is talking rubbish. If a man wants to abuse a women, he will. What you wear or don’t wear, how much skin you expose, has nothing to do with it. It’s all about power and control over a women. Women should be able to war as little or as much as they want without being abused. The man has no right to abuse a women even if she is naked!!!!! Don’t make men’s abuse all about women please. The men have to take responsibility for their actions and urges, not the women. Anna’s clothing line is for everyone, all faiths. Like one lovely lady from customer services said, ‘We are all sisters,’ when I said I was Christian. That says it all and what it should be about.

Bukunmi said:

I am a Christian and I Shop alot from here. I love thier modest dresses and I have invited alot of my Christian friends to buy. Thank you

Nadeya Lee said:

I wonder myself over such a question. For I am a Christian women I am thinking about changing my fashion image. I was a little concern how family and friends even society would be confused with my choice as well as my faith. however if we go back biblically the dress between Christian women and Muslim women was quite the same, So there should not be any confusion in the matter. I think its a beautiful thing for women of faith to go back to our roots if we wish. I see this style of dress chic, sophisticated, stylish, spiritual . So I see nothing wrong with Christian women wearing Muslim attire after all it was our attire as well unlit we adapted to societies modern life style.

Ifreke said:

As a Christian I find the dresses to be nice and elegant even though the headwear is optional for ke

Sandra Natal said:

I am a christian and I thought that this was perfect for me taking a vow of modesty for my Lord. I found them to be beautiful, modesty with elegance. I will pray that your fashion continues to thrive.

Aurora said:

I guess Christian women have a right to wear modest dresses. As we go back in history, jewish people which considered to be the origin of christianity wear modest attire with the cover on their hair. It was also written in the bible about wearing modestly but during this days, it is not mandated to christian women to wear modest attire. It depends upon the person if she is feel comfortable on the attire. I am a Christian women but I confidently wear modest attire like Muslim women do. I love to wear modest dresses because it defines me as I am, I feel comfortable wearing it and it makes me to be myself. The only thing that makes me uncomfortable wearing modest dress such as muslim attire is when some muslim people will talk to me, and I cannot understand their language, that could be shameful. But over all, I like how Muslim women dressed. It just shows that body is sacred and it should be covered to prevent lustful sin. ✌ this is just my own perception, and I know that we have different perception about modesty. Sometimes, it should be physicaly and moraly

Vivyangel said:

Women is good we cover our body. We are not meant to expose our body because its precious. Let’s teach the world to dress modesty.

Eryka Cohen said:

When I first came across this site, the last thing I though about was religion in the sense that I was looking for dresses that were fashionable, comfortable, feminine and elegant. I was so excited about finding this online store, that ladies wearing hijab did not register in my mind. It seems that now days people feel the need to be culturally sensitive, to the point that in doing so good intentions may come across as insensitive. Prior to the Roaring 1920’s and Industrialism women of all faiths wore beautiful Maxi dresses. The need for people to define and categorize people by their clothing is birthed from fear, ignorance and propaganda constructed to divide and conquer. These dresses have the power to unite by crossing over to women of other faiths and cultural backgrounds who find them appealing enough to wear. As a Muslimah, living in America , I must say that I have received many complements on the dresses. I have given this site address to women from Orthodox Jewish faith and Christian women who found these dresses just beautiful. I firmly believe these dresses express beauty and modesty and through wearing them we influence the world around us.

Fiddausi said:

yeah, yes and yes. you can definitely wear a muslim dress as a Christian. it is very modest and smart at the same time, it will also make you feel very comfortable and classy . Both religions preach modesty and morality, Am not trying to say that one religion is more modest than the other as Christians also cover their hair to church and I strongly believe that you can and should dress in a way that you feel comfortable with yourself. go ahead and shop at Annah Hariri, am sure all eyes would be on you. with time you would definitely love it more …… Go girl

Zainab said:

I’ve seen lots of non-muslim women here in the uk wearing maxi dresses come summer, and many more of them wear long dresses at weddings and occasions as a tradition etc. Perhaps sometimes they worry that wearing clothes from a muslim retailer will be immediately recognisable when they wear the clothes in public?

Sarah said:

The question may have been asked because the writer wants to make sure that she doesn’t somehow offend Muslims by wearing one of your dresses. This likely stems from the popular discussion on “cultural appropriation.” Although, there’s no indication that a modest dress is particularly for a Muslim, or any other set of people for that matter. Modest dresses can and have been worn by people of all backgrounds and if you wish to wear this style of dress, there’s no need to hesitate.

Toneeya said:

We are all Allah’s creations so it should not matter what our faiths are. The muslim dresses also appeal to women around the world who want to dress modestly in their daily lives. Isn’t that wonderful?

Nicholas Bonham-Carter said:

I would love to see what your response was to the question. I would think that the questioner was worried that she would perhaps be offending moslem women by wearing clothes which they would choose for themselves.
If a non-Christian woman would dress as a Catholic nun, then I could see some offense being taken by some Christians; however as your clothes do not seem to be associated with any particular religious duties, then I don’t see any cause for worry.
I can see that your clothing is designed to protect the wearer’s skin from head to toe from the blazing hot sun of the Middle East, as is men’s clothing as well, and if seen in this light of practicality, then I would hope that there would be no reason why a Christian lady should not wear your lovely clothes.—Nicholas

umelheyer bullo said:

i like your products because you are not only promoting your products but also it is part of calling to islam( da’ewa).

umelheyer bullo awaji said:

modesty is important for all human beings. not only for Muslims.

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