What is your opinion on using the hadith of 'Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) as evidence: "When travelers passed by us, one of us would lower her khimar over her face while in a state of ihram"?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : There is a point here. The hadith of 'Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) states: "One of us, while in a state of ihram, would lower her khimar over her face when travelers passed by us".
The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you.
The questioner : I mean, I do not know the exact text of the hadith.
The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you, my brothers! Does this indicate that it is obligatory? I do this with my women, as I told you, and this is the best and most noble. What is in this hadith?
The questioner : I mean, does it not indicate the obligation of covering?
The Shaykh : What is the basis for the indication of obligation? Is it a command from Allah or His Messenger, or is it an action?
The questioner : It is the action of a female Companion, and the Messenger approved it.
The Shaykh : Listen—may Allah bless you—if the Messenger performed an action, does that action indicate obligation?
The questioner : It indicates that it is a recommended practice (sunnah), perhaps!
The Shaykh : Here we are back to the same point.
The questioner : Do you remember? If he performed an action, I mean, the actions and sayings of the Messenger may have five aspects, either!
The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you! You combined the action with the saying, and you are researching the action without the saying. I mean, you are answering the questions with your tongues. You are saying, "I am only asking you: does the action of the Messenger regarding a thing indicate obligation?"
You go back and think and say: "His actions and his sayings." My brother, this returns to a question from which you were previously free: do all his sayings indicate obligation?
The questioner : No.
The Shaykh : He (peace and blessings be upon him) said just now, as we mentioned:Jami` at-Tirmidhi 416Sahih (Darussalam) This is a saying. Does that indicate obligation?
The questioner : No.
The Shaykh : All right, he used to pray the two rak'ahs. Does that indicate obligation?
The questioner : No.
The Shaykh : So how do you use it as evidence—and the strange thing is, it is not you who are using it as evidence, nor are you taking it, because I do not know that you have writings and a name in the Muslim community, and so on—but the great scholars among you, such as al-Tuwayjiri and others, use this hadith as evidence for obligation. What is the basis for the indication, my brother?
Obligation is indicated by the command of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) after the command of Allah the Exalted regarding a thing, and a command indicates obligation unless there is a context. Even the command itself does not always indicate obligation. But if a command comes without a context that diverts it from obligation to being a recommended practice (sunnah) or something recommended (mustahabb), then it is said to be for obligation. But how do you use the action of Lady 'Aishah as evidence for obligation?!
And I do this, as I told you. This action does not indicate obligation, but it indicates superiority. So use things that are truly a proof.
The questioner : And is your action, O honorable Shaykh, that she says it is like this, which is what you see, or do you say it is like this?
The Shaykh : This is impossible. It is impossible that the Lord of the worlds would obscure the path for women. Therefore, you feel this. And that is why your companion said just now: "She opens the jilbab by the amount of the eye." Because it is not imagined to be possible for a woman to walk to fulfill her needs, go to her field, and harvest the fruits, and so on. This is impossible. You think that Muslim women are like the example given of the women of some Turkish princes. They were only luxurious and left in the palaces and castles for the sake of enjoying them. But the rest of the Muslim women have work in the fields, in the streets, and on the roads to buy necessities, and so on. How do you imagine that this woman can go out and have lowered the jilbab over her face? This is impossible.
The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you.
The questioner : I mean, I do not know the exact text of the hadith.
The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you, my brothers! Does this indicate that it is obligatory? I do this with my women, as I told you, and this is the best and most noble. What is in this hadith?
The questioner : I mean, does it not indicate the obligation of covering?
The Shaykh : What is the basis for the indication of obligation? Is it a command from Allah or His Messenger, or is it an action?
The questioner : It is the action of a female Companion, and the Messenger approved it.
The Shaykh : Listen—may Allah bless you—if the Messenger performed an action, does that action indicate obligation?
The questioner : It indicates that it is a recommended practice (sunnah), perhaps!
The Shaykh : Here we are back to the same point.
The questioner : Do you remember? If he performed an action, I mean, the actions and sayings of the Messenger may have five aspects, either!
The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you! You combined the action with the saying, and you are researching the action without the saying. I mean, you are answering the questions with your tongues. You are saying, "I am only asking you: does the action of the Messenger regarding a thing indicate obligation?"
You go back and think and say: "His actions and his sayings." My brother, this returns to a question from which you were previously free: do all his sayings indicate obligation?
The questioner : No.
The Shaykh : He (peace and blessings be upon him) said just now, as we mentioned:
The two Rak'ah of Fajr are better than the world and what is in it.
ركعتا الفجر خير من الدنيا وما فيهاThe questioner : No.
The Shaykh : All right, he used to pray the two rak'ahs. Does that indicate obligation?
The questioner : No.
The Shaykh : So how do you use it as evidence—and the strange thing is, it is not you who are using it as evidence, nor are you taking it, because I do not know that you have writings and a name in the Muslim community, and so on—but the great scholars among you, such as al-Tuwayjiri and others, use this hadith as evidence for obligation. What is the basis for the indication, my brother?
Obligation is indicated by the command of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) after the command of Allah the Exalted regarding a thing, and a command indicates obligation unless there is a context. Even the command itself does not always indicate obligation. But if a command comes without a context that diverts it from obligation to being a recommended practice (sunnah) or something recommended (mustahabb), then it is said to be for obligation. But how do you use the action of Lady 'Aishah as evidence for obligation?!
And I do this, as I told you. This action does not indicate obligation, but it indicates superiority. So use things that are truly a proof.
The questioner : And is your action, O honorable Shaykh, that she says it is like this, which is what you see, or do you say it is like this?
The Shaykh : This is impossible. It is impossible that the Lord of the worlds would obscure the path for women. Therefore, you feel this. And that is why your companion said just now: "She opens the jilbab by the amount of the eye." Because it is not imagined to be possible for a woman to walk to fulfill her needs, go to her field, and harvest the fruits, and so on. This is impossible. You think that Muslim women are like the example given of the women of some Turkish princes. They were only luxurious and left in the palaces and castles for the sake of enjoying them. But the rest of the Muslim women have work in the fields, in the streets, and on the roads to buy necessities, and so on. How do you imagine that this woman can go out and have lowered the jilbab over her face? This is impossible.