زينة
Zīnah
Adornment: a thing or act of beautification regarded as a source of enjoyment
What it means
Zīnah is ornament or adornment, anything that beautifies and gives enjoyment. The Quran treats it as legitimate: “Take your adornment at every place of worship” (7:31), and asks who has forbidden the adornment that Allah brought forth for His servants (7:32). It also states that wealth and children are the adornment of the life of this world (18:46). The word carries both approval and warning. Beauty in moderation is lawful, while excessive attachment to display is criticised, and the Quran speaks of Qarun’s adornment that deceived his people (28:79). The word zīnah should be kept apart from zinā, the unlawful sexual act, which is spelled differently.
Often misunderstood as
That it is confused with zina, adultery, when the two words differ in spelling and meaning.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 34, listed as ZĪNAH. The definition is restated here.