The Woman's Head Covering in Prayer
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Fatwa No. ( 18635 )
Q: I came across an issue in the book (Subul al-Salam, a commentary on Bulugh al-Maram)by al-San'ani, in the chapter: Conditions of Prayer, in the commentary on the hadith ofAisha(may Allah be pleased with her): that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan Ibn Majah 655Sahih (Darussalam)So the authoral-San'ani(may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Acceptance may be used to mean that the act of worship is such that reward follows from it; so what is negated is the negation of the reward that follows from it, not the negation of validity, as it was reported:. So here is the subject of the question: The first question: Is this hadith an authentic hadith? The second question: Isthe prayer of the runaway slave and the prayer of the one who drinks intoxicantsnot accepted by Allah, such that if they pray, there is no reward or recompense for them, and is the ruling regarding only their prayer and not other acts, or does it include the zakah, fasting, and Hajj that they perform? The third question: Can we apply analogical reasoning to them (the fornicator)
We say: The one who commits fornication, if he prays, his prayer suffices him; because he is obligated to perform the prayer, but he has no reward with Allah for committing this sin, even if he prays for his whole life? And finally: Can we also analogize to this issue all the sins for which a person is punished, such as theft and others? Please inform us, may Allah reward you, and may He reward you with the best reward for me and for Islam and the Muslims.
A: The hadith is authentic, and its meaning is: When a young girl reaches puberty, it is obligatory for her to cover her head and her entire body in prayer, except her face if she is not in the presence of non-mahram men; because the woman's entire body is 'awrah in prayer except her face. And one of the signs of a woman reaching puberty is the onset of menstruation. So the hadith is evidence for the negation of the validity of the woman's prayer without covering her 'awrah, and the intended meaning is not merely the negation of reward, as mentioned by al-San'ani (may Allah have mercy on him); because the original meaning of negating acceptance is negating validity, unless there is evidence indicating that the intended meaning is the negation of reward, as in the hadith of the runaway slave and the one who drinks intoxicants, and as in the other hadith narrated by Muslim in (his Sahih), from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:Sahih Muslim 2230; because the intended meaning of this, according to all scholars, is the negation of reward, not the negation of validity. For this reason, the one who drinks intoxicants, the runaway slave, and the one who goes to a diviner
and asks him about something are not ordered to repeat the prayer. And from the first category is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1Sahih (Darussalam) narrated by Muslim in (his Sahih) from the hadith of Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both). And from that is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Sahih Muslim 225 agreed upon for its authenticity, from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him). And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and his Companions.
Q: I came across an issue in the book (Subul al-Salam, a commentary on Bulugh al-Maram)by al-San'ani, in the chapter: Conditions of Prayer, in the commentary on the hadith ofAisha(may Allah be pleased with her): that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Allah does not accept the prayer of a woman who menstruates (i.e., an adult woman) except with a head cover.
لا يقبل الله صلاة حائض إلا بخمارIndeed, Allah does not accept the prayer of the runaway slave, nor of one who has intoxicants in his stomach
إن الله لا يقبل صلاة الآبق، ولا من في جوفه خمرWe say: The one who commits fornication, if he prays, his prayer suffices him; because he is obligated to perform the prayer, but he has no reward with Allah for committing this sin, even if he prays for his whole life? And finally: Can we also analogize to this issue all the sins for which a person is punished, such as theft and others? Please inform us, may Allah reward you, and may He reward you with the best reward for me and for Islam and the Muslims.
A: The hadith is authentic, and its meaning is: When a young girl reaches puberty, it is obligatory for her to cover her head and her entire body in prayer, except her face if she is not in the presence of non-mahram men; because the woman's entire body is 'awrah in prayer except her face. And one of the signs of a woman reaching puberty is the onset of menstruation. So the hadith is evidence for the negation of the validity of the woman's prayer without covering her 'awrah, and the intended meaning is not merely the negation of reward, as mentioned by al-San'ani (may Allah have mercy on him); because the original meaning of negating acceptance is negating validity, unless there is evidence indicating that the intended meaning is the negation of reward, as in the hadith of the runaway slave and the one who drinks intoxicants, and as in the other hadith narrated by Muslim in (his Sahih), from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:
He who visits a diviner ('Arraf) and asks him about anything, his prayers extending to forty nights will not be accepted.
من أتى عرافًا فسأله عن شيء لم تقبل له صلاة أربعين ليلةand asks him about something are not ordered to repeat the prayer. And from the first category is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
Salat will not be accepted without purification, nor Charity from Ghulul.
لا تقبل صلاة بغير طهور، ولا صدقة من غلولThe prayer of none amongst you would be accepted in a state of impurity until he performs ablution.
لا تقبل صلاة أحدكم إذا أحدث حتى يتوضأ
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.