Is it permissible for a woman to wipe over a handkerchief if she is applying henna to her head?

Question:
She says: When I dye my hair with henna, I put a handkerchief over it, and when I perform wudu, I wipe over the handkerchief, even though I had not performed wudu before applying the henna. Is my prayer and wudu valid? And if my prayer is not valid, do I have to repeat it? May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
It is not permissible for a woman to wipe over a handkerchief, and this does not suffice in place of wiping the head. Thus, she has left out an obligatory part of the wudu. She must repeat the prayer in which she wiped over the handkerchief instead of wiping her head. They only permitted a woman to wipe over the khimar that she tied on her head and wrapped under her chin. This is what is wiped over due to the hardship of removing it, and because it resembles the turban of a man, for which the permissibility of wiping over it was legislated. For this reason, when the jurists mentioned wiping over the turban, they said, “And over the khimar of women wrapped under their throats.” As for the handkerchief and the like of coverings, or the khimar or anything else that is on the head—where the khimar is not wrapped under the throat—wiping over these is not permissible. If she wiped over the handkerchief and then prayed, she must repeat the prayer because her wudu was not complete. Yes. May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you well.