If a woman exposes her face and hands, does she sin? With a mention of the conditions of the Shari'ah hijab for the Muslim woman.

The questioner : Regarding the woman, if she exposes her face and her two hands, does she sin?

The Shaykh : The answer to this is: If the woman's face is in its natural state and its natural condition, yes, and likewise her two hands, the best for her is to cover them. But if she exposes them, she has not committed a forbidden act. There is an old disagreement among the scholars of the Muslims on this issue, and the majority of scholars are of the opinion that it is obligatory for the Muslim woman to cover her entire body from her head to the soles of her feet, except the face and the hands. There is disagreement regarding that: some say that the face and the hands are included with the rest of the body, so it is forbidden for the woman to show her face and her two hands. And some say that this is an exception to the prohibition, because the woman, especially in farming lands and Bedouin lands, cannot always and forever remain veiled and wearing gloves; especially the farm women who need to harvest and do such things. They are compelled, by the nature of their reality, to use their hands. I mention on this occasion a story that occurred in the time of the Messenger (peace be upon him). The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by the wife of 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf, and she was carrying something from a piece of land that belonged to 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf. Now, I am doubtful whether it was 'Abd al-Rahman or al-Zubayr ibn al-'Awwam; the doubt is from me. The point is, it was one of the ten promised Paradise.

Another questioner : Al-Zubayr is the husband of Asma'.

The Shaykh : Oh?

Another questioner : Al-Zubayr is the husband of Asma'?

The Shaykh : The husband of Asma', yes?

Another questioner : It is...

The Shaykh : He... So the Messenger (peace be upon him) passed by his wife, and he offered her to be his riding companion (peace be upon him). She was shy; why? Because she remembered her husband's jealousy. When her husband was informed of her story, he said: "I would not be jealous of anyone regarding the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). I am jealous of all people except the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), because he is protected by his nature, and indeed he is the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets."
The point is: Where was she coming from?
From a piece of land that the Messenger (peace be upon him) had granted to this al-Zubayr ibn al-'Awwam outside the city. So she used to go there and collect the date pits, the pits of the dates, and grind them and present them as fodder for the camels, and so on. This is how women were in the early times. So it is not easy to make it an individual obligation for the woman to cover her face and her two hands. But the Shari'ah permitted for her, and indeed recommended for her, to cover her face and her two hands. This is for the one for whom it is easy. As for the one who does not do so, she is not displaying her adornment, if the rest of her body is covered with the Shari'ah hijab. The Shari'ah hijab has eight conditions, and these conditions are rarely fulfilled, even in the known Shari'ah hijab in some countries that still hold on to Islamic customs. I do not say Arab customs, but Islamic customs. For example, one of the conditions of the hijab is that it be loose and wide, covering from the head to the soles of the feet. It should not be above the feet, but should drag on the ground, as came in the authentic hadith. He (peace be upon him) said: . A woman said: "O Messenger of Allah, then our feet will be exposed." He said: , meaning: a hand's breadth below the ankles. She said: "The wind will come and expose what is there of the legs." He said: . The meaning of this is that the woman should drag her hem, because that is more concealing and more noble for her.
The first condition: That it be loose and wide.
The second condition: That it not be transparent, revealing the skin.
The third condition: That it not be perfumed or scented.
The fourth condition: That it not be an adornment in itself, decorated; meaning it should be plain, without red and green and... and the like.
Yes?

Another questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Yes, it draws attention. You have done well. And I do not know if it is the fifth or the sixth condition.

The questioner : That it be tight.

The Shaykh : That is it. When we said loose, that is this meaning. May Allah reward you.
The point is: And that it not resemble the clothing of men. It should be a dress specific to women, and the condition is that it not resemble the clothing of disbelieving women. Some nuns in the past used to cover themselves with a complete covering except the face, but it was a bit short. So it is not permissible for the covering or the hijab for the Muslim woman to be similar to the clothes of disbelieving women.
And the last condition: That it not be a garment of fame, that it not be a garment of fame; meaning that one woman distinguishes herself among the women with a dress specific to her, if all the previous violations are not present in her except standing out with her specific dress among her female counterparts. This is not permissible; because of his saying (peace be upon him): . So if these conditions are fulfilled.

Another questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Yes?

Another questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : What we said, we said it, yes.
So if these conditions are fulfilled in the hijab of the Muslim woman, she has obeyed Allah and His Messenger. After that, regarding the face, she has a choice in it. The best for her and the most noble for her is to cover her face; because of his saying (peace be upon him): . And the early Islamic history indicates to us that the reality of women was so; for example, a hadith in "Sahih al-Bukhari" that a black woman was cleaning the mosque, the mosque of the Messenger (peace be upon him), collecting the garbage from it. Do you know what garbage is? Good. Then the Messenger (peace be upon him) missed her; he did not see her as he used to see her before. So he asked about her? They said to him: "She has died." He said: . They said: "Yes." He said to them: . You informed me of her death; until =
-- She is with me, may Allah reward you.Another questioner : It is new.The Shaykh: New, good; and every new thing has a pleasure --
= He (peace be upon him) said: . So he went to her grave and prayed over her while she was in her grave, and the Companions prayed behind him with him. The point is: How was it known that this was a black woman? If we assume that she wears the jilbab and puts on the handkerchief or what? The burqu' or what? The niqab, and wears what? Gloves. Likewise, there are many and very many incidents, among them that the Messenger (peace be upon him) gave a sermon to the Companions on a festival day, then he came to the women and admonished them and reminded them and ordered them to give charity. And Bilal had a garment in his hand in which he was collecting the charity. Bilal said: "I saw them stretching their hands to their earrings and giving them in charity, and throwing them into Bilal's garment." So the hands were exposed. And it is not possible, with the ease of Islam, to make it a necessary obligation that this not be exposed. But the best is that the door is wide; and therefore he (peace be upon him) said: . This hadith gives us two opposite rulings, one by the explicit wording of the hadith, in the expression of the scholars, and the other by the implied meaning of the hadith. The explicit wording of the hadith is that it is not permissible for the woman who is in ihram for Hajj or 'Umrah, and this is a matter that the Bedouins often contradict due to their ignorance and the prevalence of custom over them as well. They wear the burqu', so they come for Hajj and 'Umrah while she is like this. We see them in the seasons, the seasons of Hajj, and she is performing Hajj and doing the arrival tawaf while she is what? Veiled. This is not permissible. . Go back now and look at why she is doing tawaf like this? This is her custom, and this is a good custom, but it is not like the custom of smoking. Nevertheless, this custom has prevailed over the women performing 'Umrah and Hajj. So the Messenger (peace be upon him) warned them and said: . This is the explicit wording of the hadith. Its implied meaning is that the one who is not in ihram for Hajj and not in ihram for 'Umrah should veil herself and wear gloves, and this is the best as we said. But we do not be strict with people, and we do not say to the woman who wears the Shari'ah hijab mentioned previously, it is obligatory upon you to wear the burqu' or to wear the niqab or to wear the handkerchief. No, you have a choice, or to wear gloves.
On this occasion, some of our brothers made a very beautiful observation. One of the conditions of hijab is that it must not be tight-fitting. Now, gloves are tight-fitting, and the burqa is tight-fitting. This one has a prominent nose, this one has a flat nose, and this one has a prominent forehead, and so on. So, this is not an obligatory matter. Therefore, we tell you: whoever maintains the Shari'ah hijab with the eight conditions, that is the safe hijab in His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): . The jilbab is the cloak that the woman throws over her head and wraps around her chest so that nothing of her neck is visible, and it is loose and long. This is all I have.

The questioner: Mention for us the position of al-Fadl.

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner: The position of al-Fadl.

The Shaykh: The position of al-Fadl?

Another questioner: Al-Fadl, when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) would turn his face away.

The Shaykh: Yes, you (may Allah bless you) have undone your question; because you said: briefly, and now you are giving me room to be lengthy. We will mention it.

Another questioner: Necessity, I mean.

The Shaykh: Fine; I will not hold it against you, but I remind you and thank you; because you gave me room.

Another questioner: May Allah reward you with good. This is part of our nature.

The Shaykh: Yes, there is a hadith in "Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim" that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), during the Farewell Pilgrimage, after stoning the pillars, stopped on the road, and a Khath'ami woman stood in his way. The rider behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was al-Fadl ibn Abbas, the uncle of the Messenger (peace be upon him) and his cousin. She said: O Messenger of Allah, my father is an old man who cannot stay on the mount—he leans due to his old age—and the obligatory duty of Hajj has come upon him; should I perform Hajj on his behalf? He said: . Al-Fadl was looking at her, and she was looking at him, and she was beautiful and lovely, as it is in the hadith. So the Messenger would take al-Fadl's head and turn it to the other side.

Another questioner: He turns it, he moves it like that.

The Shaykh: He turns it. He does not say to her: cover your face. Here is a very great jurisprudential benefit; he does not say to her: cover your face; especially since Satan almost got between her and him—meaning al-Fadl. Some people imagine and think that she was in a state of ihram; and therefore the Messenger did not order her to cover her face. We say: this is an oversight of the fact that there are two coverings for the face: a covering that is forbidden for the pilgrim and a covering that is permissible for her. The forbidden one for the pilgrim is the niqab, the burqa, but it is permissible for her to let her hijab fall from her head over her face.

The questioner: Like a sheet.

The Shaykh: Yes, it is like that. This is letting it fall, not wearing a niqab. So wearing the niqab is what is prohibited . Its exact example is that the pilgrim does not wear the cap, nor does he wear this hood, but he may use the umbrella, he may use the tent, but it is not permissible for this tent to touch what? His head and he covers himself with it. This is for the man. As for the woman, it is not permissible for the female pilgrim to wear the niqab, but if men pass by her and she is modest and chaste, she lets her jilbab fall over her face. This is a permissible matter for her. So if the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) had legislated for the people that the woman must cover her face, this would be the place to point it out. Instead of saying to al-Fadl: turn your face like this, he would say to her: O servant of Allah, turn away, you are enough for us, and cover your face. He did not do any of that at all. And this is the greatest proof that covering the face is not obligatory. If it were obligatory, this would be its appropriate place, indeed the most obligatory place; because she was looking at al-Fadl and al-Fadl was looking at her.
Finally: We say that prohibition and permissibility are not in our hands, but in the hands of Allah. The Messenger (peace be upon him) does not have the right to make things lawful or forbidden; he is only a messenger. And prohibition and permissibility occurred in some nations before us, so Allah (Mighty and Majestic) warned us not to do as they did; where He said (Glorified and Exalted is He) regarding the Christians: . When this verse was revealed, it was unclear to 'Adi ibn Hatim al-Tai; because he was one of the Arabs who became Christian in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, then Allah guided him to Islam. So he knew the customs of the Christians. This verse was unclear to him: . He said: O Messenger of Allah, how is this? We did not take them as lords besides Allah! In truth, he did not understand the verse correctly, so the Messenger explained it to him in the following way: He said to him: . He said: As for this, it used to be. He said: . So prohibition and permissibility are among the exclusive attributes of the Lord of the Worlds, who has no partner. Therefore He said (Glorified and Exalted is He), expressing disapproval with a rhetorical question: . Far be it! So prohibition and permissibility are not in our hands. We follow what came in the Book and the Sunnah, and what came in the Book and the Sunnah in this matter is what we have mentioned.
And I say a final word, and we ask Abu Marzuq for permission to prepare for the prayer (if Allah wills). I say a final word: If the women of the Muslims today maintained the Shari'ah hijab with the conditions mentioned above, the Muslims would be victorious. And the issue of the face and hands remains a secondary issue in which we do not be strict and do not argue.
And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.