The Ruling on a Woman Uncovering Her Face and Abandoning the Hijab
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
We have Abu Ahmad with us from Jeddah. Go ahead, Abu Ahmad. Abu Ahmad is with us. Peace be upon you. And upon you, peace. Peace. How are you, my Shaykh? Welcome. Shaykh, I have a question. What is the ruling? Regarding a woman uncovering her face. And the woman who does not listen to her husband regarding uncovering her face, is divorce permissible? Okay. Thank you.
Answer:
Yes, covering the face is obligatory. It is obligatory for a woman to cover her face because it is the greatest part of the body that must be covered, and people’s gazes are directed toward women’s faces. A beautiful woman is not distinguished from an ugly one except by her face, and poets’ praise is directed at women’s faces, as is well known. Therefore, the face is a great trial, so it is obligatory for the Muslim woman to cover her face from men who are not her mahram (relatives one may not marry). She should not pay attention to the confusion of those who are currently creating confusion by casting doubt on a woman covering her face. Her religion is more binding on her, and the fear of Allah, obedience to Allah and His Messenger, and the purity of her conscience are more binding on her. So she should not pay attention to these nonsense claims that are circulating now, such as that there is disagreement regarding covering the face, or that it is such and such. They want this so that a woman will display her adornment, or sit with men while she is adorned in her face, wearing kohl, and beautifying her face with cosmetics. She sits with them as if she were sitting with her mahram or her husband. There is no power nor might except in Allah. Modesty has vanished, and this is a path to the loss of chastity and a path to laxity in the chastity and honor of women. So do not pay attention to this matter. If a woman disobeys and refuses to adhere to the hijab, then her husband should divorce her, because this is a sin, and it is not permissible for him to keep her while she is persistent in this sin. Also, she is raising her daughters to uncover the hijab, because daughters imitate their mothers. Yes.
We have Abu Ahmad with us from Jeddah. Go ahead, Abu Ahmad. Abu Ahmad is with us. Peace be upon you. And upon you, peace. Peace. How are you, my Shaykh? Welcome. Shaykh, I have a question. What is the ruling? Regarding a woman uncovering her face. And the woman who does not listen to her husband regarding uncovering her face, is divorce permissible? Okay. Thank you.
Answer:
Yes, covering the face is obligatory. It is obligatory for a woman to cover her face because it is the greatest part of the body that must be covered, and people’s gazes are directed toward women’s faces. A beautiful woman is not distinguished from an ugly one except by her face, and poets’ praise is directed at women’s faces, as is well known. Therefore, the face is a great trial, so it is obligatory for the Muslim woman to cover her face from men who are not her mahram (relatives one may not marry). She should not pay attention to the confusion of those who are currently creating confusion by casting doubt on a woman covering her face. Her religion is more binding on her, and the fear of Allah, obedience to Allah and His Messenger, and the purity of her conscience are more binding on her. So she should not pay attention to these nonsense claims that are circulating now, such as that there is disagreement regarding covering the face, or that it is such and such. They want this so that a woman will display her adornment, or sit with men while she is adorned in her face, wearing kohl, and beautifying her face with cosmetics. She sits with them as if she were sitting with her mahram or her husband. There is no power nor might except in Allah. Modesty has vanished, and this is a path to the loss of chastity and a path to laxity in the chastity and honor of women. So do not pay attention to this matter. If a woman disobeys and refuses to adhere to the hijab, then her husband should divorce her, because this is a sin, and it is not permissible for him to keep her while she is persistent in this sin. Also, she is raising her daughters to uncover the hijab, because daughters imitate their mothers. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، برنامج (فتاوى) (023) لمعالي الشيخ صالح الفوزان بتاريخ [1434-01-28] - كبار العلماء — youtube.com (27:27)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.