asalamu alaykum,

i am a muslim sister who has been wearing khimar and jilbaab for some time now. i have never looked down on any woman for covering her face but i have yet to be convinced that it is wajib for these reasons, and correct me if you feel i am wrong:
1)the quran speaks of two garment by name, the jilbab and khimar. why would Allah, t'ala, mention the khimar if the jilbab is a head and face cover as well? the scholar Qurtubi said that the term khimar as they used it then was a head cover, also worn by christian women, but the women obviously did not wear it properly so that is why the verse states to also draw it over their chests. as for the jilbab it has been defined by many of the old scholars as an outergarment, atleast touching the feet, etc. and is mandatory as well. as for the saying "lower their jilbabs over themselves" people debate over whether that includes the head. i think it is enough that the Quran says that the khimar is the cloth which covers the head and chest.

2)why do you sisters reject the hadith in Abu Dawood, in which the Prophet, sas, states that after puberty nothing but the face and hands can show?

3)i have read several hadith in which the narrator describes a woman's characteristics which he could not have known if she was covering her face. for example in one hadith a woman had "dark cheeks"

4)to say that you like to copy the mothers of the believers, the Prophet's , sas, wives is nice, but to say it is compulsary is something else. many women use this reason alone for wearing niqab, whereas in the Quran Allah, t'ala, says clearly that they are NOT like the other women! for example, they were not aloud to remarry whereas we are aloud to remarry if our marriages end. if we make everything the Prophet,sas, and his wives did obligatory we would all be doomed!

from everything i have read it seems as though the covering of face (and hands i guess) is mubah.
Allahu 'alam, may He be pleased with you, please let me know what you think.

As salaam alaikum sisters! Please check the home schooling section of this board!

Salaam Ayah,

I agree with you .... I have had some sisters looking down at me for not wearing the niqaab (which is not obligatory) when they cant even stick to their salats which is a FARD! ....
Anyway ... i dont want to get into pointing these things out but I do get sick and tired of the same old arguments about how we should look rather than how we should act .... which is more important ...?

In some of the Naqaab donned communities that I know (generally in my OWN experience) these women do the most gheebot; slander, backbiting, some even fornicate,look at other men buy their houses on mortgage eat haram at McDonalds .... I could go on .....

These kinds of practices give a bad name to Islam and Niqaab as Allah in the last day will look at your ammal not your garms !!!

Habiba

As salaamu alaikum,

The Prophet's saaws wives were allowed to remarry. Unless you have some proof on that sister, I love to be proved wrong (sincerely!) So insha'Allah your point about following the sunnah of the female companions is weak.

Also sometimes when a woman wears a veil you see the upper part of her cheek bone or at least the skin right under the eye, so that hadith you're refering to about seeing a dark cheekbone could easily be seen with niqab plus maybe he knew her from before the order to wear hijab or was related to her, I don't know about which hadith you refer to.

Also you ask why we don't accept the hadith about only showing face and hands. I'm only saying this to answer your question, not argue. First, it's a da'if hadith. But secondly it would make sense that this question was in answer to what the aura was for PRAYER, not for situations around non-mahram men.

Also, to say something is wajib doesn't mean the exact same fard. Insha'Allah when something is wajib and you have a very very good reason why you shouldn't do it, then Allahu Alim. But I find most people's real reason for not wanting to wear niqab is worrying about what other people would think about them. What they'll think, is RESPECT, IF you wear... AND... ACT veiled.

As salaamu alaikum. :)

asalamu alaykum sister,

NO, the prophets wives were not allowed to remarry. the Quran says:

"And it is not right for you to annoy Allah's Messenger, or that you should marry his widows after him at any time. Truly such a thing is a in Allah's sight an enormity"

so yes there are many rules that apply only to his (saaw) wives and not to all women in general.

as for the hadith where the woman's face was shown the word used is "khadain" which means "her two cheeks" . i think we all know what cheeks are :) they are the two fleshy parts that we can grab with our hands and squeeze. any yes they are covered when one covers the face, so she was not covering her face and this is clear from the hadith. also this hadith was at Eid, which the women were ordered to attend in the 6 th year A.H. and the order to cover with jilbab was revealed in 3 A.H. so it was definitely after the revelation for covering and no they were not related, he was describing her as he saw her then and there.

there are many sahih and hassan hadith about letting the face and hands show. when you said it was da'if i researched it and found that there are many different narrations of the same hadith. although one of those narrations are considered by some scholars to be weak, the other narrations are sahih and hassan. the sahih one in abu dawood goes .."when a woman has reached the age of puberty nothing can be seen but the face and hands up to the wrists" the fact that there are so many different narrations of this same hadith is proof enough for the scholars Shafi, Maliki, Hanafi to conclude that the face and hands do not have to be covered when out in public, but it is optional. these hadith are not referring to the state while in prayer, if they were then the Prophet would have said so. there are other hadith that state that a woman's prayer will not be answered if she is not wearing the khimar..the situation of prayer is mentioned specifically. and also the hadith where the prophet mentioned the showing of the face and hands occurred when he saw Esme the daughter of Abu Bakr, who the Prophet was NOT a mahram for so yes it does apply to the general situation of being around non mahram men.

it concerns me deeply that many women who chose to cover the face say it is wajib, which is not different than saying it is fard, which means that the muslim women who do not cover their faces can/will be punished for it, which is a very serious and hurtful claim :(

also sister if our (the women who don't cover faces) reason for not covering was because of what people would think then we would not be wearing the khimar or jilbab either because we do get mocked and stared at for that. the reason we do not wear it is because it is not obligatory on us. if we found evidence that it was we would :)

but may Allah reward you for being so modest, for Rasulallah said:

"Al-Hayaa (modesty & bashfulness) is from Imaan (belief) and Imaan is in Al-Jannah (the Paradise)." [At-Tirmidhi - Saheeh]. :)

Aouthu Billahi Mina shaythaanir Rajeem, Bismillah Ar Rahmanir Raheem.

InnAlhamdulillahi Raabil 'aalamin Ar Rahmanir Raheemi Malikee Yaumi Deen.
Anna ash-hadu an La ilaha il Allahu wahdahu la shareeka lahu wa anna
Muhammadan 'abdahu Wa Rasoolahu, Salawat Allahu Salaamahu Alaih. As salaamu
alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatahu,

Raaba ighfirlee watub a'ala innaka anta altawabu ghafure.
"Oh my Lord turn towards me(to accept my repentance). Verily You are the
Oft Returning, Oft Forgiving."
Muslims and Muslimahs across the world have been in "hot debate" for centuries, over the issue of whether or not covering the face is obligatory upon a muslimah. The scholars agree that it is a highly recommended act to cover the face. The scholars also agree that a woman must cover her adornment, yet some scholars argue that this does not include the face. Whether agreeing that niqab is required or not, one must surely acknowledge that it is a desirous sign of piety. What better example of Sunnah to follow for a Muslimah than that of the Prophet (SAW) and his wives (RA). Every Muslimah is encouraged to cover to the fullest, showing only one or both eyes.
The Noble Quran - Al-Ahzab 33:59
"O Prophet! Tell thy wives and daughters and the believing women that they should cast their outer garments over their persons(when abroad): that is most convenient that they should be known(as such) and not molested: And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."
Clearly this verse is referring to the Ummel Muslimeen AND all the other Muslim women.
How various fuqaaha, muhaditheen, and mufassirreen have explained this verse:
Ibn Al-Mandhur:
"Jalabib is plural for Jalbaab. Jalbaab is actually the outer sheet/coverlet which a woman wraps around, on top of her garments to cover herself from head to toe. This covers the body entirely. (Lisan ul-Arab, Vol 1 pg. 273)
Ibn Abbas (RA) who was the greatest mufassir that ever lived (after the Prophet 'SAW') describes it as follows:
"Allah commanded the Muslim women to cover this sheet on top of them and to cover their bodies except one eye, when it is necessary for them to come out of their homes." (Tafseer Ibn Katheer)
"Allah has enjoined upon all Muslim women that when they go out of their homes under necessity, they should cover their faces by drawing a part of their outer garment over their heads." (Ibn Jarir, Vol XXII pg 29)
Imam Muhammad bin Sirin said: "When I asked 'Ubaida bin Sufyan bin al-Harith (RA) the meaning of this verse and how the jalbaab was to be worn, he demonstrated it to me by pulling a sheet of cloth over his head to cover his entire body, leaving the left eye uncovered. This was also the explanation of the word "Alaihinna' in this verse." (Commentary by Ibn Jarir and Ahkam-ul-Quran, Vol. III p. 457)
Surah An-Nur (30-31)
Allah (SWT) says in the most Holy Quran: "And Say to the believing women to lower their gaze (from looking at forbidden things), and protect their private parts (from illegal sexual acts) and not to show off their adornment except only that which is aparent (like both eyes for necessity to see the way) and to draw their veils all over Juyubihinna (i.e. their bodies, faces, necks, and bosom).
Even for this ayah Aishah (RA) narrated: "May Allah bestow His Mercy on the first Muhajiirat. When Allah (SWT) revealed "and draw their khumar over their Juyubuhinna,they (the women) tore their material and covered themselves.[Saheeh Al-Bukhari]
Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalanee, who is known as Ameer Al-Mu'mineen in the field of hadith:, said that the phrase, "Covered themselves," in the above hadeeth means that they "Covered their faces." [Tath Al-Bari]
Hadith- Al Bukhari (6:282):
'Aisha (RA) used to say: "When (the Verse): "They should draw their veils over their necks & bosoms,' was revealed, (the ladies) cut their waist sheets at the edges and covered their faces with the cut pieces."
Hadith- Abu Dawud, narrated Umm Salamah, Ummal Mu'minin (RA):
When the verse "That they should cast their outer garments over their persons was revealed, the women of Ansar came out as if they had crows over their heads by wearing outer garments."

Other great scholars that agree with the niqab being wajib are Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalanee (RA) Jamal Zarabozo, Shaikh Ibn Jibreer, Hakimal Ummah Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi (RA), Mufti Ebrahim Desai and many, many more...
Fatawa from Sheikh Ibn 'Uthaimin":
The Islamic hijab is for the women to cover everything that is forbidden for her to expose. That is, she covers everything that she must cover.
The first of those bodily parts that she must cover is her face. It is the source of temptation and the source of people desiring her. Therefore, the woman must cover her face in front of those men that are not Mahram (i.e. father, husband, etc).
"As for those who claim that Islamic hijab is to cover the head, shoulders, back, feet, shin, and forearms, this is a very amazing claim. This is because it is well-known that the source of temptation and looking is the face. How can one say that the Shariah does not allow the exposure of the foot of the woman while it allows her to uncover her face?
"It is not possible that there could be in the Esteemed, Wise and Noble Shariah a contradiction. Yet everyone knows that the temptation from uncovering the face is much greater than the temptation that results from the uncovering of the feet. Everyone also knows that the most sought after aspect of the woman for men is the face. If you told a prospective groom that a woman's face is ugly but her feet are beautiful, he would not propose to such a woman! However, if you told him that her face was beautiful but her hands, palms, or shins were less than beautiful, he would still propose to her. From this one can conclude that the face is the first thing that must be covered.
"There are also evidences from the Book of Allah (SWT) and the Sunnah of our Prophet (SAW). There are also statements from the Companions, the leading Imams, and the great scholars of Islam that indicate that it is obligatory upon the woman to cover all of her body in the presence of non-Mahram men. This obviously indicates that it is obligatory upon the woman to cover her face in front of such men." "Clearly many of our contemporary "Ulama such as Shaikh "Abdul-'Azeez 'Abdullah bin Baaz, Shaikh Muhamma Ibn Saalih Al-'Uthaimeen, may Allah give them both life (Ameen), feel that the niqab is indeed wajib upon the believing women.Others from amongst our 'Ulama, such as the Muhaddith of our time, Sheikh Muhammad Naasiru-Deen Al-Albanee, may Allah give him life (Ameen), clearly feel that the Niqab is not Wajib, but rather Mustahab (highly recommended). Refer to his book "Jilbaabal Mar'atul Muslimah."

Refutations from Shaikh Ibn Uthaimin
This is taken from the book "Hijaab" by Shaikh Ibn Uthaimin from Saudi Arabia. Printed by Madrasah Arabia Islamia Azaadville-South Africa. Translated by Hafedh Zaheer Essack, Rajab 1416 (December 1995)
The Ullima who are of the opinion that it is permissible to look at the face and hands of a strange woman (who is not mahrrum) say so mainly for the following reasons:
The hadith of Aisha (RA) when Asmaa (RA) the daughter of Abu Bakr came to the Rasulullah (SAW) while wearing thin clothing. He approached her and said:
'O Asmaa! When a girl reaches the menstrual age, it is not proper that anything should remain exposed except this and this.
He pointed to the face and hands. But this hadith is WEAK because of 2 main weaknesses
1. There is no link between Aisha (RA) and Khalid bin Dareek, who narrated the hadith from her. And in every chain of narrators Khalid bin Dareek is mentioned.
2. In the chain of narrators Sa'eed bin Basheer appears, who is known by most of the Muhaditheen as being a weak narrator. This has been mentioned by Imaam Ahmad bin Hanbal (Rahimahullah), An-Nasai (Rahimahullah), Ibn Madeeni (Rahimahullah) and Ibn Ma en (Rahimahullah). This is also why Imaam Bukhari (Rahimahullah) and Muslim (Rahimahullah) did not except this hadith to be in their books.
3. It is also known that the Ullima have explained that this hadith is from the time before the ayah for hijab was revealed. This is because after the ayah for hijab (Surah Al-Ahzaab Verse #59) was revealed then the women of Sahaba wore a complete cover and covered the faces and hands. This includes Asma who has been narrated in authentic hadith (MUWATTA Book 20 Hadith # 20.5.16) to have covered her face.
(From Shaikh Ibn Uthaimin in the book "Hijaab" pages # 17 and 18)
Today we hear many cries against the niqab for many reasons which do not make sense. For example, the argument that niqab is counter-productive to Da'wah in non-Muslim lands. After having established that the niqab is indeed an authentic part of Islam we must then conclude that to hide it is what is counter-productive to Da'wah. No one would dare think that the Sahabah spread Islam through out the lands of the earth by concealing the practices they learned from the Messenger of Allah (SAW); thus as Umar Ibn Al-Khuttab (RA) declared; "Let the Sunnah go forth and do not stop it with opinions." Other modernist Du'at claim that the niqab is in fact Makruh or disliked! How strange! They stand upon their own 'Aql (intellect) which is weak in light of he authenticated reports we have above.
Whoever ridicules a Muslim woman or man for sticking and applying the teachings of Islam is a disbeliever. This is regardless of whether it is concerning woman's hijab or any other matter of the Shariah.
"Was it Allah, and His Signs and His Messenger you were mocking? Make no excuse, you have disbelieved after you had believed. If We pardon some of you, We will punish others among you because they were sinners" [Al-Tauba: verses 65-66]
So ridiculing believers has been equated with ridiculing Allah (SWT), His Signs, and His Messenger (SAW).

Allahu Ilum, Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika ashahadu an la ilaha ilah anta wastaghfiruka wa atubu alaik.

asalamu alaikum,

well if we are going to quote scholars:. here
is my quote from Al-Bani's book on the subject:

Al-Baaniy writes:

p.41 "The face is not awrah which must be covered and this is the
mathhab of most scholars; Ibn Rushd, and also other scholars who said
that are Abu Hanifa and Malik and Shafi' and one narration from Ahmad
Ibn Hanbal in the book "Al Majmoua vol. 3 p 169..."

Taymiyah said the same thing
about the above scholars, and these are two trusted scholars who have
studied their books.

it is only one opinion that the one hadith about Asma is weak!
as i said before, all the scholars who say that it is not fard to cover
face and hands consider the meaning of this hadith very strong
because, as Bahaqui put it "it's paths are many" . even if you are of
the opinion that the one path of that hadith is weak, you can not deny
that there are many other paths of the same hadith which are not weak,
and taken all those into consideration we can conclude that the Prophet
really did say that the face and hands can show.

the Quran states to cover everything "except what is neccessity to
show".
Al-Qurtubi states his interpretation is that refers to the face and
hands, BECAUSE it is neccessary to show them during the salat and hajj,
but this ayah is clearly not limiting the showing of the face and hands
TO the state of salat and hajj. it is a general statement. Al-Qurtubi
also says that the khimar was never a cloth which covered the face,
only the head (even since before Islam they used to use the khimar)
and when this ayah came Allah ordered the women to also make sure that
it covered their neck area.

As for those who say that the ayah of the jilbaab when it says
"yudnina" lower their jilbaabs over themselves, means to cover the face
with it, this is a long winded interpretation. the face is not even
mentioned in the ayah. the women use to wear their jilbaabs so that it
went over the back of their heads, which had a khimar on it, and then
they tied it around their necks, but the jilbaab did not cover the
face. Ibn Hatm al Sa'id bin Jabain who
was a member of the Ulama Assalaf explains this in the book "Al-dur"
vol. 5 p.223 saying
"and it is the hood on top of the khimar and it is not halal for a
woman infront of a stranger to see her except wih this hood on top of
the khimar and this tied around her neck". i have seen this kind of
jilbaab in magazines. it is one piece of cloth which covers the head
and whole body leaving only the face and hands exposed. i have read
many scholars who say this is the proper jilbaab but the ones we wear
today accompanied by the khimar are also okay.

again Baghawi in his book "Fatih" vol.I p336 says regarding the jilbaab
"it is the sheet that the woman is in that gets put over her clothes
and her khimar"

Ibn Hazm in "Muhala" vol3 p216 says "Allah has ordered them to put
khimar over their chests and neck to cover their awrah and so it is
permissible to show the face and hands and there is no other
possiblility [in meaning] than this."

Taquiyideen says : "..and this does not mean to cover the face in any
case not by wording and not by meaning. There's not a word that points
to that meaning, not singly or in combination"

Also, there are many hadith, one which a sister posted already (where
the woman was beautiful so the Prophet made the man turn his head -
notice how he made the man turn his head and did not order the
beautiful woman to cover her face), which prove that women use to show
their faces during the time of Rasulallah. the one i have here is:

Jaabir bin Abdullah said: "I attended prayer on 'eid day with Allah's
messenger. He commenced with the prayer, before the sermon, wthout any
adhaan or iqaamah....then he moved on untill he came to the women whom
he addressed saying: "Give charity, for verily most of you ar fuel for
the hell-fire of jahannum, wheerupon there rose from the middle ladies'
congreagation a dark cheeked woman......" (Muslim)

from this hadith we have proof that that women used to display their
faces, for the narrator of this hadeeth, describes the woman as being
'dark cheeked'. he could not have seen this if her face was covered.
and this hadith has to have been revealed AFTER the order for covering
was revealed in the Quran because women were not ordered to attend eid
prayer until that.
one sister mentioned the hadith about the Ansar women, how they covered
themselves after the revelation of covering, but this hadith does not
mention the word FACE, they just rapped the cloth around their heads (in arabic fakhtamarnabiha - the put them as khimar) so i'm not sure how this can be evidence for niqab.

in Abu Dawood: "The prayer of woman who has reached puberty without the khimar is not accepted" so a khimar can not be a face cover since we can not pray with faces covered.

there is no hadith in which Rasulallah commands us to cover our faces. there is no hadith which even hints that the jilbaab or the khimar is a face cover. the face cover is seperate piece of clothing.

The Quran says about the wives of the prophet "You are not like other
women".
many rules, such as the one that they are not allowed to remarry, or
specific or fard only to them, and the face cover is one of these
rules. it was fard for them but not us. but if we want to imitate them
in this, that is good also. we were not ordered to imitate them in
this, and that is what all the above shcolars say, and i take their
opinion since they have taken ALL of the evidence into consideration
(not just one hadith, or one ayah) and concluded that. below are some hadith :

Narrated Aisha: "Asma', the sister of 'A'isha and daughter of Abu Bakr, came before the Prophet in a thin dress that showed her body. The Prophet turned his eyes away and said, "O Asma'! When a woman reaches puberty, it is not lawful that any part of her body be seen, except this and this" - and then he pointed to his face and the palms of his hands. "

*the scholars disagree as to whether this hadith is weak or good. Qurtubi uses this hadith in his tafseer of the ayah concerning khimar. fortunately there are many different paths of narration of this same hadith which is why the majority of scholars accept the meaning of this hadith, such as Bahaqui who said it is good because "it's paths are many" (see next two hadith)

Narrated An Qutada: "Rasulallah (s.a.a.w.) said: "if the woman has reached puberty it is not permissible to show from her anything axcept her face and hands upto the wrists""

Narrated Asma bint Amees: "Rasulallah entered on Aisha bint Abu Bakr and her sister Asma was with her, and on her was Damascus clothes with wide sleeves. When Rasulallah (s.a.a.w.) looked at her he then stood up. Aisha said to her: 'Step out, Rasulallah has seen something he hated, so she stepped out. Then Rasulallah (s.a.a.w.) reentered and Aisha asked him 'Why did you stand up?" He said "Didn't you see her appearance? It is not for a muslim woman to show from her except this and this - he took his sleeves and he covered with them the backs of his hands until only his fingers showed and erected his hands around the sides of his head until only the face showed."


Narrated Abu Bakr an Ibn Jareej: Aisha said, "the daughter of my brother entered showing her zeenah (beauty) and the Prophet (s.a.a.w.) entered. He turned away and I said 'Ya Rasulallah, she is my brother's daughter, and a servant [was there also]'. He said "when a woman arakat* it is not permissible to her to show except her face and this - then he grasped his forearm and he left between his grip and his palm the same grasp [in length] approximately"

*arakat is the action made for example when a woman kneads dough.

Narrated Jaabir bin'Abdullah: "I attended prayer on Eid day with Allah's Messenger (s.a.a.w.). He commenced with the prayer, before the sermon, without any adhaan or iqaamah. Then he rose, leaning on Bilal and addressing those present before him, commanded them to fear Allah and exhorted them to obey Him. He further admonished and warned them. Then he moved on until he came to the women whom he addressed saying: "give charity, for verily most of you are fuel for the hell fire of jahannum, whereupon htere rose from the middle ladies' congregation a dark cheeked* woman who said: "Why is that, O messenger of Allah?" He replied: "Because you women make too many complaints, and you refuse to acknowledge your husbands' good treatment." Upon hearing this the women began tossing their jewelry in charity upon bilals' outspread cloth."

*the woman must have been showing her face if Jaabir describes her as being dark cheeked.

Narrated Ibn Abbas:"a woman came to Allah's Messenger on the day of sacrifice, during his farewell hajj, seeking a religious verdict from him. Al-Fal bin 'Abbaas, a handsome man was the Prophet's riding partner at the time...and he began to glance at the woman -as she was beautiful- and she too was glancing at him. So Allah's Messenger (s.a.a.w.) on seeing this, grasped Al-Fadl's chin and turned his face in the other direction. In another narration Al-'Abbaas (the Prophet's uncle) later asked him: O messenger of Allah, why did you turn the neck of your cousin? The Prophet's reply was: "I saw a young man and woman in such a situation that i feared what effect satan might have on them"

---> if this woman's face - and she is described as being beautiful - was awrah then the Prophet would have told her to cover it instead of turning the man's head.


Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:
A woman made a sign from behind a curtain to indicate that she had a letter for the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him). The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) closed his hand, saying: I do not know this is a man's or a woman's hand. She said: No, a woman. He said: If you were a woman, you would make a difference to your nails, meaning with henna.

*the woman's hands were not covered


Narrated Ata bin Abi Rabah: Ibn Abbas said "Do you want me to show you a woman from the people of janah? he said "yes". "This black woman who came to the Prophet and said "I get seizures, and I get uncovered, ask Allah for me." And he said to her "If you want to be patient for you is janah, and if you want i will ask Allah to heal you. Then she said "patience". Then she said "I'm getting uncovered, ask Allah for me not to get uncovered" Then he asked for her".

*she did not have her entire face (like some do) and hands covered since he could tell she was black.

Believers, please read this article on Advice to the students of knowledge and those who love the Sunnah at, p://www.makkahnet.homestead.com