Is it true that the 'awrah (the part of the body that must be covered) of a Muslim woman in front of her Muslim sister is from the navel to the knee?

The Shaykh : A question has just come to me regarding the previous discussion in the hall. It says: Some people say that the 'awrah (the part of the body that must be covered) of a Muslim woman in front of her Muslim brother is from the navel to the knee. Is this correct?
The student : Her sister.

The Shaykh : Yes, that the 'awrah (the part of the body that must be covered) of a Muslim woman in front of her Muslim sister is from the navel to the knee. Is this correct? If the questioner means by "correct" whether this ruling is correct according to the Shari'ah (Islamic sacred law), the Book or the Sunnah, the answer is no. If the questioner means whether a scholar says this, the answer is yes. But the ruling of Allah is the reference, as you have learned on many occasions. I had started to answer a question like this when we were in the hall, and I mentioned the verse: to its end, as an introduction to explaining the 'awrah (the part of the body that must be covered) of a woman in front of her mahram (a relative one may not marry) on one hand, and in front of a Muslim woman on the other. So we say now: The woman is entirely 'awrah (the part of the body that must be covered), as he (peace be upon him) said in the authentic hadith of Ibn Mas'ud, and he based this on that, saying: The woman is entirely 'awrah (the part of the body that must be covered). So if she goes out of her house, it is not permissible for her to expose any part of her body except the face and the hands, as has been explained previously. But when she is in her house among her mahram (a relative one may not marry) relatives, such as her father or brother or other mahram (a relative one may not marry) relatives, it is permissible for her to show only the internal adornment, as the scholars call it. This is because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said in the previous verse: . The scholars differed on whether the intended meaning of His saying: is the adornment itself, or whether the intended meaning is the places of the adornment, on two opinions. It does not appear to me that there is a major disagreement between the two interpretations, although I lean toward the other interpretation, which is that the intended meaning is "and they do not display the places of their adornment." Because if we say the meaning of the verse is the first meaning, "and they do not display the adornment itself," then something strange would result: displaying the adornment might be outside or far from the limb, or it might be on the limb while it is settled there. So when it is interpreted with the second saying, "and they do not display the places of the adornment," then the prohibited thing is unified: they do not display their adornment while it is in its places. But if one takes the adornment and displays it in front of a strange, unrelated man, there is no prohibition there except in specific cases. So the meaning is: meaning the places of the adornment. So when that is the case, we must know what are the places of the adornment that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) forbade the woman to display in front of strangers and permitted her to display in front of her mahram (a relative one may not marry) relatives. We must know the adornment that was known in the era of jahiliyyah (the pre-Islamic age of ignorance), and specifically at the time of the revelation of this noble verse. The scholars' investigation of the customs of women in that time indicates that the places of adornment are the head, the neck, the wrist, and the upper arm, where they would place some adornment resembling the anklets that are placed on the leg, and the adornment placed on the upper arm. I think, if my memory does not fail me, it is called the damlaj. Do you know, do you remember this? It seems to me like this. So displaying the arm, including the bracelet on the wrist and some of the upper arm where this adornment is, and displaying the feet and a little of the lower legs, these are the places of adornment. And these are what Allah (Mighty and Majestic) permitted the woman to display in front of her father, her brother, and her sisters who are Muslim women. And when we know this definition of the places of the adornment, the rest remains on the original ruling, which is prohibition, and it is the 'awrah (the part of the body that must be covered). The woman is 'awrah (the part of the body that must be covered). This is clarified by the fact that when a Muslim woman displays, for example, her waist, as that reported saying and the one being asked about states, that the 'awrah (the part of the body that must be covered) of a woman in front of a Muslim woman is like the 'awrah (the part of the body that must be covered) of a man in front of a man, from the navel to the knee: where is the place of adornment on the back of the woman? Where is the place of adornment on her waist? Where is the place of adornment above her belly? All of this, no athar (a report from a Companion or successor) has come indicating that anything other than the previously mentioned places was a place of adornment for women on the day the previous verse was revealed: to its end. So it is not permissible for a woman, on the pretext that there is no stranger in the house, only mahram (a relative one may not marry) relatives, to display, for example, her upper arm, to display her armpit, to wear the shirt, the shayal, I do not know what they call it, which is specific to women. All of this falls under the prohibition, because Allah did not include in the exception except what is apparent from her. Is what is under the armpit a place of adornment, or is it a place where dirt and bad smells usually gather? So what made this place permissible for the woman to display in front of her father and in front of her mahram (a relative one may not marry) relatives, and then in front of her Muslim sisters? This is, in reality, one of the strangest things we see in some fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) books, to say that the 'awrah (the part of the body that must be covered) of a Muslim woman in front of her Muslim sister is between the navel and the knee. There is absolutely no basis for this, not even in a fabricated hadith, and this definition contradicts the text of the verse: . So Allah permitted the woman only to display the places of the adornment. The places of the adornment are the head and some of the neck, which is the place of the necklace. But to expose her chest until her breasts are almost visible, on the pretext of what? That this is forbidden. No, all of this is from being influenced by the sweeping current, with an attempt to justify some of these violations with such a saying that came in some madhhab (school of jurisprudence). This saying is similar to another saying, and much stranger than this.