What is the ruling on a woman taking off her abaya outside her home?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : The questioner asks: What is the ruling on a woman placing her abaya on her shoulder outside her home when visiting one of her relatives or friends?
The Shaykh : We hold that a woman placing her abaya on her shoulder when she goes out to the market or to houses where there are men who are not her mahram (relatives one may not marry) is a cause of fitnah (trial, discord or temptation), because when the abaya is on the shoulder, the woman's shoulders are revealed, their width is revealed, and their structure is revealed. Some women have upright shoulders and others have sloping shoulders. It has reached me that some women place a rag on their shoulder, wrapping a rag around their shoulder so that the shoulder appears upright. All of this indicates that throwing the abaya over the shoulder is not a prescribed matter, nor is it something that should be done. Yes. As for when she is alone, for example, in the mosque and wants to pray,
then there is nothing wrong with her placing the abaya on her shoulder, because she cannot hold it completely in place during prayer unless it is on her shoulder. Also, if it is on her head, she may need to move it. And women, from ancient times, when they prayed in their homes and there were no men around them, would place the abaya on their shoulder. What? Yes. Placing the abaya on the shoulder outside her home, if there are only women with her, there is nothing wrong with it. Yes.
The presenter : A cause.
The questioner : He says: The question is whether it is permissible for a woman to take off her abaya in a house other than the house of her family and her husband?
The Shaykh : We say: Yes, as long as there
The Shaykh : We hold that a woman placing her abaya on her shoulder when she goes out to the market or to houses where there are men who are not her mahram (relatives one may not marry) is a cause of fitnah (trial, discord or temptation), because when the abaya is on the shoulder, the woman's shoulders are revealed, their width is revealed, and their structure is revealed. Some women have upright shoulders and others have sloping shoulders. It has reached me that some women place a rag on their shoulder, wrapping a rag around their shoulder so that the shoulder appears upright. All of this indicates that throwing the abaya over the shoulder is not a prescribed matter, nor is it something that should be done. Yes. As for when she is alone, for example, in the mosque and wants to pray,
then there is nothing wrong with her placing the abaya on her shoulder, because she cannot hold it completely in place during prayer unless it is on her shoulder. Also, if it is on her head, she may need to move it. And women, from ancient times, when they prayed in their homes and there were no men around them, would place the abaya on their shoulder. What? Yes. Placing the abaya on the shoulder outside her home, if there are only women with her, there is nothing wrong with it. Yes.
The presenter : A cause.
The questioner : He says: The question is whether it is permissible for a woman to take off her abaya in a house other than the house of her family and her husband?
The Shaykh : We say: Yes, as long as there
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، لقاء[30 من 41] ما حكم خلع المرأة عبائتها في غير بيتها؟!! الشيخ ابن عثيمين - مشروع كبار العلماء — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.