It is not hidden from you the beauty of the woman, her adornment, and her beauty in her face, and the trials occurring today; is it not the case that saying to uncover her face opens the door to trial?

The questioner: O Shaykh ... It is not hidden from you, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner: It is not hidden from you, O Shaykh, regarding the adornment of the woman and her beauty in her face.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner: And as you know today, the trials occurring in the streets and environments, ... perhaps opened doors for many women ... .

The Shaykh: Glory be to Allah! Did I open this door, or did the scholars who came before me?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : ... .

The questioner: So if it is as you mentioned, O Shaykh, that the face of the woman ... is 'awrah (the part of the body that must be covered).

The Shaykh: It is not 'awrah (the part of the body that must be covered).

The questioner: So I ... they veil themselves ... ... .
... ... ...

The Shaykh: I expect one thing from you; and that is that you do not take scholarly matters by emotion, but take them with calmness and deliberation. Stay calm, stay standing. How should the verse be that you argue with, which indicates the obligation of the woman covering her face? Can you now, in light of what I described to you earlier, according to my opinion, that you are now veiled; so what is the correct way of veiling?

The questioner: The veiling, I want to ... .

The Shaykh: No, no, apply it, apply it.

The questioner: That it be in the hijab (the covering prescribed for women).

The Shaykh: My brother, no talk, apply it; is that it? Go and see, go.

The questioner: I go? I open a large opening so that I can see.

The Shaykh: Where did you get the opening from?

The questioner: Or it be transparent.

The Shaykh: Transparent? I advised you not to rush, be deliberate. Where did you get the opening from?

The questioner: The opening if ... .

The Shaykh: My brother - may Allah be pleased with you -, I am not asking you how it is? Where did you get the opening from?

The questioner: To see the road.

The Shaykh: But the verse does not say that!

The questioner : Which verse?

The Shaykh: Glory be to Allah! , so you now brought the jilbab (the outer garment) close to your face according to your understanding and that of others, so you no longer see the road, and therefore you were forced to say: an opening. Where did you get this opening from? Is it present in the verse?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner: No, it is not present.

The Shaykh: So why did you contradict what you say?

The questioner: We put something transparent on it.

The Shaykh: No, that is not it, you have given it a second treatment, allow me, be patient, this is enthusiasm! Please now rest, just that you urged us to the Shari'ah jilbab (the outer garment) ; meaning she covers her face from the hairline to the bottom of her chin. Did you feel that this is not practical? Therefore you found yourself forced to say: she opens an opening. Where did you get this opening from, since you interpret the verse that they cover their faces?! Earlier you and those like you, I do not know how you justify and permit for yourselves to enter into your research of this issue from the path of opinion and reflection, which is against the methodology of the people of the Sunnah, and is the methodology of the people of opinion?! Why do you not proceed with argumentation by the verse or the hadith? But why do you say: the most beautiful thing in the woman is her face? Yes, ... they say in our area, this is correct, but is this the path by which we should take the Shari'ah rulings?! I will tell you now and you answer me honestly as I answered you honestly: the most beautiful thing in the woman is her face; so what is the most beautiful thing in the woman from her face?

The questioner: The eye.

Another questioner: The eye.

The Shaykh: Good; how did you permit the woman to reveal the most beautiful thing in her face?!

The questioner: If I open a small hole, I cannot see her eye.

The Shaykh: My brother, that is not how it is said - may Allah bless you -, I am not asking you how you do it, how did you permit her? You prevented me from saying it by the argument that the face in the woman is the most beautiful thing in her; so this talk - may Allah bless you - means: how do you, O Shaykh, say that the most beautiful thing in the woman is permissible; while I did not say this by opinion as you are doing now! I said it with authentic texts and reports that no one has the ability to reject them at all, no matter how much they strain in interpretation and ... the texts, etc. But we are now facing this picture; the most beautiful thing in the woman is her face, yes; so what? So it must be covered; is that not so?

The questioner: Muhammad 'Abdu is speaking, O Shaykh, he is asking, meaning?

The Shaykh: No, it is not possible now, when your turn comes you speak, so may Allah bless you; we asked you and we ask everyone, and some differ in this issue. What is the most beautiful thing in the woman? I said: the eye. The correct thing is to say: the clarity of her eyes; so where did you permit the path that you denied for me and you are not from it, and permitted her to reveal the most beautiful thing in her face? Where is this text? So whoever knocked on the door heard the answer. You entered from the door of logic and philosophy. The most beautiful thing in the woman is her face; is there anyone who says: no? We all say: yes. Good; and the most beautiful thing in the face are the eyes? Is it permissible for her to reveal the eyes, which are the most beautiful thing in the face? The answer must be with all honesty: no; so what does the woman do?

The questioner: She can see the road without revealing her eyes.

The Shaykh: I could not.

The questioner: Now ... and praise be to Allah.

The Shaykh: I could not, my brother, I am telling you: it is not supposed that I speak and you speak, and whenever we speak, what happened to us? We moved away. No, we need to speak to get closer. You - may Allah bless you - and others of the noble Shaykhs interpret ; meaning: they cover their faces; meaning: with their jilbabs (outer garments); is that not so?

The questioner : .

The Shaykh: ... We told you - may Allah bless you - the research should not jump east and west. We are not finished with the first verse now.

The questioner: ... around this point, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh: Which point, my brother? Did you finish with the first point?

The questioner: No, the same first point.

The Shaykh: I see that you are more heated than this companion of yours.

The questioner : No, Shaykh.

The Shaykh: So then, no problem, no problem, I am telling you and giving you the space. What do you say? Is the most beautiful thing in the woman her face or not?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: Good; and is the most beautiful thing in the face the eyes or not? Good.

The questioner: But before this, you mentioned that if we say that the consideration and the goal of the woman covering her face or the hijab (the covering prescribed for women) of the woman is that she is safe from trial; she is not tempted.

The Shaykh : I did not say that.

The questioner: No, I say: what is the wisdom behind all this?

The Shaykh: This is previous ... , I ask you a question; when I askedThe Shaykh : there he answered, so do you agree with his answer or not? Or else this way of jumping, we will not reach a result even if we stay until dawn; so I ask you: what is the most beautiful thing in the woman?

The questioner : Her face.

The Shaykh: Her face, and what is the most beautiful thing in her face?

The questioner: Her eyes.

The Shaykh: Her eyes; so your logic obliges you to say: it is not permissible for the woman to reveal from her face not even one eye; do you say that? Say: yes, say: no, the choice is yours.

The questioner: If we say yes.

The Shaykh: No, there is no "if".

The questioner: No, there is a saying of Ibn 'Abbas.

The Shaykh: Allow me, my brother, may Allah be pleased with you, we are not in the position of arguing now. Now we need to clarify what you say and what we say? After that, if necessary, arguing with what we say or you say, that has its own page. So now you were asked and you answered: the most beautiful thing in her face are her eyes. So if you interpret that the woman must cover her face, and in it are her eyes; do you say by the apparent of your saying, or do you permit her to reveal her two eyes?

The questioner: Let us say she does not reveal her eyes.

The Shaykh: My brother, this is not a debate - may Allah bless you -, this is not a debate of the issue. Each one expresses what he believes. As for "let us say" or "if we say so" or "if we say so", this means debate. And here comes his saying - peace be upon him - : , so may Allah bless you, mention what ... and what you worship Allah with, then look at where you are from the verse? Did you take it, or are you among those who contradict it like me, as you claim?! So where did you take the permissibility that the woman reveals one eye with her jilbab (the outer garment), or both eyes? What is your evidence in this?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: Here you rested earlier! And you took over for him, until you are exchanging!!

The questioner: We do not have present all the evidence that is argued with in this field, but.

The Shaykh : I, my brother, have not exhausted the evidence. On the contrary, I am relieving you from having to ask me for evidence, or me from having to ask you for evidence. But I am arguing with you from your own logic, and I say: your logic is a philosophy that Islam does not accept. Is my speech clear or not? Why? Because the honorable brother entered the topic as others do, the Swedes and their like, and so on: "The most beautiful thing about a woman is her face." Yes, and what is behind that? So, it is obligatory to cover the woman's face. Is this the evidence? Who said that opinion is evidence? Who said that opinion is what makes something obligatory? And if that were the case, why do you say it is permissible for a woman to reveal one eye, which is the most beautiful thing on her face? A contradictory inconsistency! And so I say: the thing you are using as an argument against us is actually an argument against you, not against us. As for us, we do not say this by philosophy. Okay.

The questioner : What I understand from you, your eminence,The Shaykh : is that you were asked about this issue and you said: "Legally, she reveals her face, but out of fear of fitnah (trial, discord or temptation), she must cover her face."

The Shaykh : No, I do not say that.

The questioner : Or that you cover your family.

The Shaykh : My book, may Allah bless you, has been printed in several editions. There is a special chapter: "The Legitimacy of Covering the Face." And I emphasized in the introduction and in this chapter that the best thing for every woman, even if she is black, is to cover her face. Because the proverb says: "For every drop in the neighborhood, there is a catcher." But I say that the women of the Companions and the Tabi'un (the generation after the Companions) after them were of two types. Some resembled the women of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), of whom nothing of their faces was seen, and so it was with many of the noblest of the female Companions. And some of them revealed their faces. And this was not a disliked matter, and they were affirmed or approved in this action in the presence of the Messenger, the Companions, the Tabi'un, and those who came after them from the Imams. Abu Hanifa says that it is not 'awrah (the part of the body that must be covered), and al-Shafi'i says the same, and Malik says the same, and others say that it is 'awrah. So, there is scholarly disagreement in the issue. Why do we get excited and handle the issue with logic that contradicts logic like it? And here you are being confronted with your own logic, not mine. "The most beautiful thing about a woman is her face." Yes, so what? She must cover it. "The most beautiful thing about a woman's face is her eyes." So, she must cover them. No, she does not cover them. What is this inconsistency, and the verse is one? And it is: ? Now, drop this logic. This logic is refuted... And tell us what your argument against us is, so that we can discuss calmly.

The questioner : What is the intended meaning of the verse? What are your directives regarding the verse, His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): "That is more apt to purify you"?

The Shaykh : No.

The questioner : .

The Shaykh : Yes, this is the complete verse. This command is easy to be refuted to you by the words of one who is with you in the first issue or in the first verse, and not with you in the other verse. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) says: This verse relates to the hijab of guests, while the first verse relates to the jilbab (the outer garment) for going out. So, the jilbab is one thing and the hijab is another. What does "ask them for what they need" mean? It means the man comes and knocks on the door, so the covered woman comes out and speaks, but she does not open the door, and she does not lift the hijab. This is the second etiquette by which Allah taught the believing women while they are in their homes. Because in their homes, they are in a state of ease, taking their freedom, because there is no one there to see their head, neck, and so on. So He said: ; meaning: from behind a wall, meaning: from behind a curtain, meaning: from behind a door. This is a strange mixing of the two verses entirely. And each of the verses has its place. The place of the first verse is the hijab when she goes out. The place of the second verse has no relation to the jilbab; it has a relation to the hijab, which is the wall or the curtain, and so on. And this is explicit in the words of Ibn Taymiyyah, besides others...

The questioner : He says the verse... the rules.

The Shaykh : It is an argument against you. What does the verse of the "sitting at home" mean?

The questioner : It is the...

The Shaykh : What is its meaning?

The questioner : who do not menstruate, .

The Shaykh : What is the intended meaning of "their garments"?

The questioner : "Their garments" means the face covering.

The Shaykh : You do not believe in the face covering.

The questioner: Huh?

The Shaykh : You do not believe in the face covering.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : You have not yet believed in the face covering, my brother!

The questioner : According to your saying: the woman should cover her face. You said that it is better for her to cover her face. So, how does she see the road?

The Shaykh : How?

The questioner : How does she see the road according to your saying that she...?

The Shaykh : It is not by your jilbab, but by our jilbab.

The questioner : ... reveals her eyes?

The Shaykh : ... Have you not been informed of his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): ?!

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Okay, now that I have answered you, , but what does the non-mahram (a relative one may not marry) do? She wears the niqab (the face veil). Is the niqab the jilbab?!

The questioner : No.

The Shaykh : And so you contradict yourselves. When you say the verse of the jilbab stipulates the obligation of the woman covering, and your great Shaykhs explicitly state this, they contradict themselves with themselves. The jilbab does not provide covering for the face. Rather, He said (in clear Arabic): the woman used to walk like this in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, like the Iraqi women if you saw them; she would throw the jilbab over her head, her forelock was uncovered... and her jewelry was on her neck. So our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) taught them etiquette and said: . This "lowering" (of the jilbab), some scholars say, and this is somewhat philosophical, but the meaning is clear. We say... How much do they lower it? Do they lower it like this, as our Shaykh said just now?! She no longer sees the road. But this is possible. So, she sees the road now. All my speech is first to soften some of your heat and your argumentation that the verse obligates the woman to cover her face. This is not correct at all. The verse is an argument against you, especially if you continue to cling to your philosophy: "The most beautiful thing about a woman is her face." Yes, but our Lord created her to be a trial for men, and a trial for women by men. Therefore He said: , and He addressed the women with the same as He addressed the men: . So, I do not see it correct in any way to insist and be stubborn in claiming that the verse of the hijab indicates the obligation of the woman covering her face, with the reasoning that it is the most beautiful part of her body. If this were accepted, what we brought would be brought against you: the most beautiful thing on her face is her eyes; so then...

The questioner : The verse, Shaykh...

The Shaykh : Are we done?

The questioner : It is just a question about the verse, Shaykh.

The Shaykh : How?

The Shaykh : ... .

The Shaykh : ... People... the Qur'an, the verse: , not "they are not known"! Okay; by what are they known?

The questioner : No one knows, Shaykh.

The Shaykh : You are back... He says: , not "they are not known."

The questioner : Yes, yes.

The Shaykh : I was not upset, do not blame me. I told you just now: the issue needs deliberation. Who wants to speak now?

The questioner : Shaykh, there is a problem. It was not reported from Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: "One of us, when she was in a state of ihram (the consecrated state of pilgrimage), if the riders passed by us, one of us would lower her khimar (the head covering) over her face." I do not know the exact text of the hadith.

The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you, may Allah forgive you, people! Does this indicate obligation? I do this with my women, I told you, and this is the best and most noble. What is in this hadith?

The questioner : Does it not indicate the obligation of covering?

The Shaykh : What is 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 the female Companion and the Messenger approved it.

The Shaykh : Listen, may Allah bless you. If the Messenger performed an action, does his action indicate obligation?

Another questioner : The Sunnah (the Prophet's way).

The questioner : It may be.

The Shaykh : We are going back to the beginning!

The questioner : No, I remember. If he performed an action, meaning the actions and sayings of the Messenger may have five aspects.

The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you! You combined the saying with the action, and the research is in the action without the saying. You are answering the problems with your tongues. You say: "I am only asking you about the action; the action of the Messenger is something that indicates obligation." You go back and think and say: "His actions and his sayings." My brother, you return to a question from which you were free. Do all his sayings indicate obligation?

The questioner : No.

The Shaykh : He said (peace and blessings be upon him), we mentioned just now: . This is a saying; did that indicate obligation?

The questioner : No.

The Shaykh : Okay; he used to pray two rak'ahs (a unit of prayer); did that indicate obligation?

The questioner : No.

The Shaykh : So how do you derive a ruling from this? And the strange thing is, it is not you who derive rulings! It is your scholars! Because I do not know that you have any writings or a name in the Muslim community, or whatever, but your senior scholars ... and others derive from this hadith the ruling of obligation! What is the evidence, my brother? Obligation is indicated by the command of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) following the command of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) regarding a matter, and a command indicates obligation unless there is a context that changes it; even the command itself does not always indicate obligation, but if a command comes without a context that shifts it from obligation to being a recommended practice or a recommended act, then it is said to be for obligation. But as for the action, how do you derive obligation from the action of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her)? And I do this, as I told you, my action does not indicate obligation, but it indicates preference, so derive your rulings from things that are actually in the argument!

The questioner : And is your action - may you be respected -The Shaykh : that I say it this way? Is this what you see? Or do you say it this way?

The Shaykh : This is impossible, this is impossible for the Lord of the Worlds to blind the path for women; therefore you feel this, and that is why your companion just now said: she opens the jilbab by the amount of the eye; because a person cannot imagine what? Sending a woman to run her errands and go to her field and bring in the fruits like this ... this is impossible. Do you think that Muslim women are like the example given of the women of some Turkish princes? They were just comfortable 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, in the roads, to buy necessities, and so on. How do you imagine that this woman can go out and have draped the jilbab over her hair and over her face?! This is impossible!

The questioner : But the Hafiz in our view - O Shaykh - has a text ... the Hafiz states here that the woman walks in the roads, in the streets, and she is fully covered, but with a light covering ... .

The Shaykh : O Shaykh, this is with us, we are talking about the meaning of the verse, not ... , now I ask you a question: this covering called the munda'il; is it transparent? Meaning, can the woman see the road or is her face not seen, what do you call it? We call it a munda'il.

The questioner : A munda'il.

The Shaykh : A munda'il, okay; was this munda'il mentioned in the verse?

The questioner : No.

The Shaykh : We are not talking about munda'il, we are talking about the jilbabs, , it is not your derivation from the munda'il which appeared later, and it is not your derivation from the black glasses, these glasses; because these are all modern things. Your derivation is from the jilbab and from His saying - Exalted is He - : Your derivation is wrong. As for the fact that a woman can drape a munda'il over her face so she can see the road and her face is not seen, this is our trade, we Syrians and Albanians and so on, we have no need for you to tell us what your women do, but our research is what is the meaning of ? The munda'il was not in that time, and even if it existed, it was not mentioned neither in the verse nor in the hadith. Everything that was mentioned , and this indicates that I remind you of something. I performed 'Umrah before I circumambulated these lands, I and my wife, and perhaps you share this observation with me now; I find that the Arab women in these lands, all of them are either wearing the niqab, or are in a state of ihram, or are draping the munda'il as we said. Why? From your strictness in the matter; with the agreement of all Muslim scholars that it is not permissible for a woman to cover her face with the munda'il, in draping, this draping is what came in the hadith of Aisha, as for tying the munda'il on her head and draping it over her face, this ... , whoever did that, it is obligatory upon her to pay a ransom according to many scholars, so why is this phenomenon?

Another questioner : The answer, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Allow me.

The questioner : The niqab ... a clear hadith.

The Shaykh : That is not my question.

The questioner : As for the covering.

The Shaykh : That is not my question, may Allah guide us and you. My question: what is it that causes the pilgrims and those performing 'Umrah to tie the munda'il on their faces or wear the niqab while they are in a state of ihram?

The questioner : Because of our strictness.

The Shaykh : You have done well.

Another questioner : In the answer ... .

The Shaykh : This is it - may Allah bless you - , listen, my brother, may Allah guide you, we are dealing with reality. What is the reality?

The questioner : I say: there is an answer to this mentioned by Ibn al-Qayyim - may Allah have mercy on him - .

The Shaykh : Are we talking about Ibn al-Qayyim now?!

The questioner : No, I say there is an answer to this regarding the covering of the face for the woman in a state of ihram; Ibn al-Qayyim - may Allah have mercy on him - says: "And the hadith of the woman wearing the niqab does not contain an indication that the woman should uncover her face."

The Shaykh: May Allah guide you.
She went east and I went west *** How different is the east from the west
I am talking about women in ihram.

The questioner : That this is the statement of Ibn al-Qayyim regarding those in a state of ihram.

The Shaykh : My dear, Ibn al-Qayyim says that there is no evidence that the woman not in a state of ihram uncovers her face.

The questioner : No, the talk is about the woman in a state of ihram covering her face, and he mentioned this in "Bada'i' al-Fawa'id".

The Shaykh : My brother, may Allah guide you; do not rush ... remember it like this with such haste.

The questioner: No, no.

The Shaykh : Listen, my brother, I am not ... I say it, I am patient so that you speak. What did you say last?

The questioner : You say - O Shaykh - : that the hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is that he forbade the woman from wearing gloves and from wearing the niqab. You say: how, and you see the pilgrims and those performing 'Umrah, and some of them wear the niqab or cover their faces with this munda'il? So you say: what is it that caused them to do this action, which is covering the face or ... ?

The Shaykh : ... is this permissible?

The questioner : Covering the face ... .

The Shaykh : Am I talking about the covering now?

The questioner : No, about the niqab.

The Shaykh : Did you see how?

The questioner : I say: you combined the two, O Shaykh ... or the niqab.

The Shaykh : ... may Allah guide you, the munda'il is not the draping, I now mentioned draping, and I said tying it is not permissible, the niqab is not permissible for the woman in a state of ihram, I mentioned it regarding her uncovering, and therefore now I see that you are rushing like others! The statement of Ibn al-Qayyim does not equal the problem. I say: why do Arab women, who are pilgrims or performing 'Umrah, wear the niqab or wear the munda'il? Not drape it, they wear the munda'il, you say Ibn al-Qayyim said such and such.

The questioner : We understood from the munda'il, O Shaykh ... it is known to us, we understood your intention with the munda'il is that the woman places or drapes the covering over her face, this is what we intended.

The Shaykh : My dear, I mentioned three things, as for what you understood, I do not ask. I mentioned three things, and the first is the draping, ... the woman, and I said to the Shaykh here: on that is the hadith of Aisha, is that not so? We are done with the draping; meaning: the woman in a state of ihram drapes, but does not tie it on her face, so the munda'il is tied here on the forehead and lowered, it is draped over what? The face; this is not permissible by consensus, a fortiori it is not permissible by consensus, so we just now asked, reminding only; why is this? The honorable brother here answered: from strictness, and this is indeed the case; why? Because Arab women in these lands do not hear anything but that the face of the woman is 'awrah and she must cover it, and I believe there is no harm for a person to accept what he is reassured by, but the reality must be dealt with. So-and-so and so-and-so and so-and-so of the Shaykhs perform Hajj and they see, and praise be to Allah, they see the women while they are circumambulating and performing sa'y and they are wearing the niqab or wearing the munda'il; meaning tying the munda'il. Whenever it is mentioned that the face of the woman is 'awrah and it must be covered, it must be associated with the exception that the woman in a state of ihram is not permissible to wear the niqab or to tie the munda'il. This is what I say; so the statement of Ibn al-Qayyim has no relation to this ... .

The questioner : When we asked about the woman who places on her face and I said the munda'il, the brothers thought ... , we thought that the munda'il is not what the woman ties.

The Shaykh : You, pardon, do not drag the brothers into this with you, this is your opinion.

The questioner : I think that everyone ... .

The Shaykh : You think well of them ... now it has not become clear to you that there are three things?

The questioner : I have a problem, what is the evidence for not tying the munda'il, O Shaykh? Why does the woman not tie the munda'il?

The Shaykh : Because the Messenger forbade the niqab.

The questioner : Meaning, is the munda'il the same as the niqab?

The Shaykh : ... and this is fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). Listen now; if she does this, is it permissible?

The questioner: No.

The Shaykh : And we know ... !! This is not permissible, but that is permissible. Your case is like someone asking: Is it permissible for a person in ihram (the consecrated state of pilgrimage) to wear a cap on his head?

The questioner : It is not permissible.

The Shaykh : Yes?

Another questioner : It is not permissible that he ... .

The Shaykh : No, you don't say it that way. I am asking you about placing the cap on his head?

The questioner : No.

The Shaykh : How is it not permissible? Didn't he say that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) does not wear the shirt or the turban, or ...? Did he not say that?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Is it permissible for him to place the turban on his head?

The questioner : No, it is not permissible.

The Shaykh : So the wording is confusing for you. We left the issue of the wording and returned to: what about the turban? Is it permissible to cover oneself with a tent or the umbrella they call a parasol today?

The questioner : It is permissible.

The Shaykh : It is permissible. Why?

The questioner : It is not...

The Shaykh : Yes, and this is the same. This is draping, not ... . We said if we return to the niqab (face veil), this is niqab; is it permissible?

The questioner : No, it is not permissible for the woman in ihram.

The Shaykh : Our discussion is about the woman in ihram, is that so?

The questioner : No, is it called niqab linguistically or is it not called that?

The Shaykh: Of course.

The questioner : Is it called niqab? It is not permissible.

The Shaykh : It is not permissible! What is it called? We do not call it niqab; what is this called?

The questioner : A face mask (litham).

Another questioner : A face mask (litham).

The Shaykh : A face mask (litham), is it permissible? And so I exaggerate ... is this permissible?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Now, peace be upon you.
... ... ...

The questioner : But I say: if there is fitnah (trial, discord or temptation), she must cover her face, not because it is 'awrah (the part of the body that must be covered), it is not on the basis that it is 'awrah, but to ward off harms ... .

The Shaykh : ... you have realized the fitnah, you have realized the fitnah, it is not a matter of covering, she must turn her back, but if it is feared that fitnah will be realized, it is feared that ... so why do we restrict people by legislating what Allah and His Messenger have not forbidden?! This is the point to which the scholar resorts when he does not find the evidence that obligates the Muslim woman to cover her face as a rule or system ... .

The questioner : ... ... .

The Shaykh : ... in ihram, yes, it is amazing that this is said. Did you not say earlier: the hadith of 'Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she used to drape her garment, was she not in ihram?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Why ... this is ... he does not tell her to cover herself; meaning: with the permissible covering, not with the niqab or tying the scarf if the Bedouin woman has a scarf.

The questioner : Fine; how do we respond or how do we direct regarding the issue of the saying of Allah - (Glorified and Exalted is He) - : ; do we not find here an indication that if the woman is commanded not to strike with her feet so that she does not cause fitnah; is it not even more so?

The Shaykh : ... ... ... we tell them: this is qiyas (analogical reasoning), and all qiyas is invalid, and even if there were truth in it, this would be the very essence of falsehood. We believe in qiyas; but this is invalid qiyas; because you are comparing what the created being does to itself ... people and what the Creator did in the woman as natural beauty, so you compare that artificial fitnah to the fitnah that Allah created. I am now compelled by what they mention of this qiyas; I say now: is it not possible that the man is more beautiful than the woman?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Fine; is it obligatory for this ... .
... ... ...