The Default Ruling on Hijab and the Ruling on the Niqab and Burqa
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
What is the default ruling on hijab? And what is the ruling on the niqab and the burqa?
Answer:
The default ruling on hijab is that it is obligatory by the Qur'an, by the Sunnah, and by the opinion of the majority of scholars. Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Ahzab 33:59] And He said: [Al-Ahzab 33:53] This is general for the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and for the other women of the believers.
The hijab is obligatory. The hadith also states that a woman in ihram does not wear a niqab, which indicates that before entering ihram she was wearing a niqab and covering her face. She was only prohibited from wearing the niqab in ihram because the niqab is sewn specifically for the face, so it was prohibited, and she covers her face with something else, as Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: Her donkey carried us Mishkat al-Masabih 2690. So the woman in ihram covers her face with her garment, a headscarf, or a shaylah. She is only prevented from covering it with a niqab or burqu' specifically. As for the woman whose custom is to cover her face with a khimar and a shaylah, and it is not her custom to wear a burqu' or niqab, and it is not the custom of her country, she does not switch from the full covering to a niqab or burqu'. That would be a change and a deficiency in the hijab. The woman follows the custom of her country and the custom of her society.
What is the default ruling on hijab? And what is the ruling on the niqab and the burqa?
Answer:
The default ruling on hijab is that it is obligatory by the Qur'an, by the Sunnah, and by the opinion of the majority of scholars. Allah the Exalted said:
O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to bring down over themselves [part] of their outer garments
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُل لِّأَزْوَاجِكَ وَبَنَاتِكَ وَنِسَاءِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِن جَلَابِيبِهِنَّAnd when you ask [his wives] for something, ask them from behind a partition. That is purer for your hearts and their hearts.
وَإِذَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُنَّ مَتَاعًا فَاسْأَلُوهُنَّ مِن وَرَاءِ حِجَابٍ ذَٰلِكُمْ أَطْهَرُ لِقُلُوبِكُمْ وَقُلُوبِهِنَّThe hijab is obligatory. The hadith also states that a woman in ihram does not wear a niqab, which indicates that before entering ihram she was wearing a niqab and covering her face. She was only prohibited from wearing the niqab in ihram because the niqab is sewn specifically for the face, so it was prohibited, and she covers her face with something else, as Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said:
When the women passed by us while we were in ihram with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), they would lower
كنا إذا مر بنا النساء ونحن محرمات مع النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم سدلتfrom her head over her face, and when they had passed on we would uncover our faces
من على رأسها على وجهها، فإذا جاوزونا كشفناه
Source
أسئلة وأجوبة ي كليات البنات المتوسطة في شقراء — archive.org (47:14)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.