The ruling on a woman covering her face in the presence of men during prayer
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
If a woman is praying in the presence of men, is she permitted to cover her face?
Answer:
It is obligatory for her to cover her face. I told you that a woman has an 'awrah (part of the body that must be covered) in the presence of men, and an 'awrah when she is alone in prayer. As for her 'awrah in the presence of men, it is her entire body, including her head, face, hands, and feet. This is in the presence of men. As for when she is alone in prayer, or in the presence of women or mahram (a relative one may not marry) men, her entire body is 'awrah except her face. Pay attention to this. There is disagreement regarding the hands. Is it permissible, meaning, to uncover them? There is disagreement regarding uncovering the hands. The school of thought holds that they are 'awrah in prayer.
If a woman is praying in the presence of men, is she permitted to cover her face?
Answer:
It is obligatory for her to cover her face. I told you that a woman has an 'awrah (part of the body that must be covered) in the presence of men, and an 'awrah when she is alone in prayer. As for her 'awrah in the presence of men, it is her entire body, including her head, face, hands, and feet. This is in the presence of men. As for when she is alone in prayer, or in the presence of women or mahram (a relative one may not marry) men, her entire body is 'awrah except her face. Pay attention to this. There is disagreement regarding the hands. Is it permissible, meaning, to uncover them? There is disagreement regarding uncovering the hands. The school of thought holds that they are 'awrah in prayer.
Source
شرح كتاب المنتقى من أخبار المصطفى صلى الله عليه وسلم، بداية من باب من لم ير الفخذ من العورة — islamhouse.com (46:47)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.