The Niqab for the Woman in Ihram and Covering Her Face
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The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, it is mentioned in the hadith: "Do not wear the niqab, O women in ihram." Is the niqab...?
The Shaykh:
No.
The questioner:
Do not wear the niqab, O women in ihram.
The Shaykh:
Likewise, do not wear the burqu'.
The questioner:
Do not wear the niqab, O women in ihram.
The Shaykh:
Do you wear the niqab, O women in ihram? Yes.
The questioner:
Do you wear the niqab, O women in ihram? He asks: Is the niqab anything that has an opening in the area of the eyes, or also...?
The Shaykh:
The niqab is what has an opening for the eyes or for one eye; whatever has an opening for the eye or the eyes is a niqab, and it is also called a burqu'. Yes.
The questioner:
Then he asks: What if she places the opening of the niqab behind her head and lets the covering fall over the face?
The Shaykh:
If it is behind the head, what is the benefit? This is not permissible. She does not wear the niqab. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade her from wearing the niqab, so she does not wear it. She wears a covering, she wears a shaylah, she wears a khimar, she wears whatever covers her head and face from men, and that is sufficient. But he forbade the niqab and the burqu' only, and he did not forbid her from covering. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not forbid the woman from covering her face from men; he forbade her from wearing the niqab or the burqu', meaning a stitched garment specifically for the face, just as he forbade the man from wearing a stitched shirt. So the hadiths must be understood. As for their saying that the woman's ihram is in her face, that is a mistake, that is a mistake. It is not obligatory for her to uncover her face; rather, she does not cover it with this specific item, the niqab or the burqu' only, but she covers it with anything else. Because Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) clarified this: So the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not prevent the woman from covering her face; he only prevented her from a specific thing. Just as he did not prevent the man from wearing the izar and the rida' and what is of the same ruling as them, but he only prevented him from the stitched garment.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, it is mentioned in the hadith: "Do not wear the niqab, O women in ihram." Is the niqab...?
The Shaykh:
No.
The questioner:
Do not wear the niqab, O women in ihram.
The Shaykh:
Likewise, do not wear the burqu'.
The questioner:
Do not wear the niqab, O women in ihram.
The Shaykh:
Do you wear the niqab, O women in ihram? Yes.
The questioner:
Do you wear the niqab, O women in ihram? He asks: Is the niqab anything that has an opening in the area of the eyes, or also...?
The Shaykh:
The niqab is what has an opening for the eyes or for one eye; whatever has an opening for the eye or the eyes is a niqab, and it is also called a burqu'. Yes.
The questioner:
Then he asks: What if she places the opening of the niqab behind her head and lets the covering fall over the face?
The Shaykh:
If it is behind the head, what is the benefit? This is not permissible. She does not wear the niqab. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade her from wearing the niqab, so she does not wear it. She wears a covering, she wears a shaylah, she wears a khimar, she wears whatever covers her head and face from men, and that is sufficient. But he forbade the niqab and the burqu' only, and he did not forbid her from covering. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not forbid the woman from covering her face from men; he forbade her from wearing the niqab or the burqu', meaning a stitched garment specifically for the face, just as he forbade the man from wearing a stitched shirt. So the hadiths must be understood. As for their saying that the woman's ihram is in her face, that is a mistake, that is a mistake. It is not obligatory for her to uncover her face; rather, she does not cover it with this specific item, the niqab or the burqu' only, but she covers it with anything else. Because Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) clarified this:
And we were with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the state of ihram, and when men passed by us, one of us would let her khimar fall over her face, and when they had passed, we would uncover it.
وكنا مع النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم محرمات فإذا مر بنا الرجال سدلت إحدانا خمارها على وجهها فإذا جاوزونا كشفناه
Source
المنتقى من أخبار سيد المرسلين 18-05-1434هـ — alfawzan.live (1:16:09)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.