A response to those who say that if the openings of the niqab are wide, it is forbidden to block the means to harm.
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The Shaykh: Is it a frequent, varied connection, or a rare one? Or how else...The Shaykh : Muhammad ibn Uthaymeen.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: I mean, do you see it often or rarely?
The questioner: No, no, rarely.
The Shaykh: We have rarely heard of such a report; we want to verify it. I strongly disapproved of it, even according to our own school, which leans toward the view that a woman's face is not 'awrah (the part of the body that must be covered), although the best is to cover it, as you know of us. What reached us from a person who claimed to have read it in the newspaper Al-Muslimun was that Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen was asked about the niqab in the modern era and he denied its permissibility in a strange way. Has such a report reached your ears?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: And with Juhaynah is the certain news.
The questioner: ... the intensity of the disapproval.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : ButThe Shaykh : He speaks regarding the reality of the Muslim in which he lives, meaning so that it does not become a means to harm. He says, no, no, no, the niqab, as you know, O Shaykh... the eyes.
The Shaykh: What do you do?
The questioner: She covers her face completely, and he says this is a means to a woman showing her cheeks.
The Shaykh: Well, does he not know this? It made me find the report strange. Does he not know that the niqab existed in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)? And this is among the evidence of the majority among you—and I do not say among all Muslims—that one of the proofs for the impermissibility of a woman uncovering her face is the hadithMuwatta Malik 20:17 If the non-muhram (one who is not a close relative) wears it, how can it be said, do not wear it today!
The questioner: This question is directed to the Shaykh himself.
The Shaykh: I mean, has no one happened to ask him this question?
The questioner: What I know is that the Shaykh does not see its prohibition at all!
The Shaykh: He does not see it.
The questioner: He does not see that the Shari'ah (Islamic sacred law) forbids this thing... .
The Shaykh: I know this. How does he see it, and he argues with the hadith, how can he say the niqab is not permissible!
The questioner: As I mentioned to you from this perspective, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh: What is understood from the hadith!
The questioner : Allah knows best.
The Shaykh: Well, where did you learn this?
The questioner: From the students of knowledge; this is widespread!
The Shaykh: Widespread. Well, is it new or old?
The questioner: It is old.
The Shaykh: It is old. Well, did the newspaper report reach you?
The questioner: No, no... .
The Shaykh : Ah, and Nasser has no news of anything.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: No, it is not... and I do not think 'Abd al-Rahman says it himself.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: No, no... we are not now in the 'illah (the operative cause of a ruling) because there is no space, hehe.
Those present: Hehehe.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: Well, what is your opinion? Is it said here... is this statement prescribed?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: Record it, record it... but there is a type of difference between them. Abu Nasser says about it that it is close to accepting the opinion, and that is that the woman wearing the niqab lowers the niqab to include the cheek, not just the eye. The professor here, Abu... did not mention this wide area. In any case, it was said in explaining this report that it is from the perspective of blocking the means to harm. So my question is: what is your opinion, O attendees, in this explanation? Is it permissible to say to prevent—I do not say forbid, because the truth is I do not know what Shaykh Muhammad ibn Uthaymeen's expression was—forbidding something permissible on the basis of blocking the means to harm, knowing that this permissible thing existed in his time (peace be upon him) and the cause is present, is it not so, O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman?
The questioner: The matter is as you say, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you.
The questioner: ... . The niqab.
The Shaykh: He says the niqab is not permissible!
The questioner: Excuse me, the niqab is not permissible.
The Shaykh: All right.
The questioner: The niqab is not permissible means that the entire niqab is dropped.
The Shaykh: Yes, he says the alternative is the handkerchief. I say this handkerchief was not known in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). This is, of course, one of the effects of civilization. Welcome, how are you? Why did you not greet me when you entered? Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, the speech was yours.
The questioner: I mean, if this cause is found, and that is that women throw [it] as I mentioned to you previously.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: So in my opinion, it should be addressed by ordering women to open the amount the woman needs. It is not said to forbid it, but rather to forbid what of it contradicts the Shari'ah.
The Shaykh: What I see, and Allah knows best, is that the effort in such a case must be kept on the general rule. We are forbidden from effort. You Arabs know better than the non-Arabs, even if they are Arabized in the details of linguistic terms... So do you see if the niqab is the handkerchief, for example, which has two openings for the eyes? Is this the niqab, or is the niqab the one that is tied under the eyes? We, professor, every time we get close to the non-Arabs, the foreignness intervenes, and a group rooted in Arabness, so we need to hear these people because they are closer and better at what is called the jurisprudence of language, and this is what your people did not touch when they touched the jurisprudence of reality. I wonder what the niqab is?
The questioner: But did the niqab have one form in the past, or did it have multiple forms?
The Shaykh: When we get the answer to that question, you take the answer from that answer!
The questioner: I do not know, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh: Hehe, may Allah reward you with good. Expand the research. We say the niqab does not have one image, but I draw attention to the fact that the multiplicity of these images of the niqab should not make us forget that from this niqab or question, is this from this niqab or not? If the answer is yes, this is one of the images, then why is it prevented!
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: I only asked you to benefit from your speech!
The questioner: Yes, may Allah bless you.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: I mean, do you see it often or rarely?
The questioner: No, no, rarely.
The Shaykh: We have rarely heard of such a report; we want to verify it. I strongly disapproved of it, even according to our own school, which leans toward the view that a woman's face is not 'awrah (the part of the body that must be covered), although the best is to cover it, as you know of us. What reached us from a person who claimed to have read it in the newspaper Al-Muslimun was that Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen was asked about the niqab in the modern era and he denied its permissibility in a strange way. Has such a report reached your ears?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: And with Juhaynah is the certain news.
The questioner: ... the intensity of the disapproval.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : ButThe Shaykh : He speaks regarding the reality of the Muslim in which he lives, meaning so that it does not become a means to harm. He says, no, no, no, the niqab, as you know, O Shaykh... the eyes.
The Shaykh: What do you do?
The questioner: She covers her face completely, and he says this is a means to a woman showing her cheeks.
The Shaykh: Well, does he not know this? It made me find the report strange. Does he not know that the niqab existed in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)? And this is among the evidence of the majority among you—and I do not say among all Muslims—that one of the proofs for the impermissibility of a woman uncovering her face is the hadith
a woman in ihram should wear neither a veil nor gloves
لا تنتقب المرأة المحرمة و لا تلبس القفازينThe questioner: This question is directed to the Shaykh himself.
The Shaykh: I mean, has no one happened to ask him this question?
The questioner: What I know is that the Shaykh does not see its prohibition at all!
The Shaykh: He does not see it.
The questioner: He does not see that the Shari'ah (Islamic sacred law) forbids this thing... .
The Shaykh: I know this. How does he see it, and he argues with the hadith, how can he say the niqab is not permissible!
The questioner: As I mentioned to you from this perspective, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh: What is understood from the hadith!
The questioner : Allah knows best.
The Shaykh: Well, where did you learn this?
The questioner: From the students of knowledge; this is widespread!
The Shaykh: Widespread. Well, is it new or old?
The questioner: It is old.
The Shaykh: It is old. Well, did the newspaper report reach you?
The questioner: No, no... .
The Shaykh : Ah, and Nasser has no news of anything.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: No, it is not... and I do not think 'Abd al-Rahman says it himself.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: No, no... we are not now in the 'illah (the operative cause of a ruling) because there is no space, hehe.
Those present: Hehehe.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: Well, what is your opinion? Is it said here... is this statement prescribed?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: Record it, record it... but there is a type of difference between them. Abu Nasser says about it that it is close to accepting the opinion, and that is that the woman wearing the niqab lowers the niqab to include the cheek, not just the eye. The professor here, Abu... did not mention this wide area. In any case, it was said in explaining this report that it is from the perspective of blocking the means to harm. So my question is: what is your opinion, O attendees, in this explanation? Is it permissible to say to prevent—I do not say forbid, because the truth is I do not know what Shaykh Muhammad ibn Uthaymeen's expression was—forbidding something permissible on the basis of blocking the means to harm, knowing that this permissible thing existed in his time (peace be upon him) and the cause is present, is it not so, O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman?
The questioner: The matter is as you say, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you.
The questioner: ... . The niqab.
The Shaykh: He says the niqab is not permissible!
The questioner: Excuse me, the niqab is not permissible.
The Shaykh: All right.
The questioner: The niqab is not permissible means that the entire niqab is dropped.
The Shaykh: Yes, he says the alternative is the handkerchief. I say this handkerchief was not known in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). This is, of course, one of the effects of civilization. Welcome, how are you? Why did you not greet me when you entered? Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, the speech was yours.
The questioner: I mean, if this cause is found, and that is that women throw [it] as I mentioned to you previously.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: So in my opinion, it should be addressed by ordering women to open the amount the woman needs. It is not said to forbid it, but rather to forbid what of it contradicts the Shari'ah.
The Shaykh: What I see, and Allah knows best, is that the effort in such a case must be kept on the general rule. We are forbidden from effort. You Arabs know better than the non-Arabs, even if they are Arabized in the details of linguistic terms... So do you see if the niqab is the handkerchief, for example, which has two openings for the eyes? Is this the niqab, or is the niqab the one that is tied under the eyes? We, professor, every time we get close to the non-Arabs, the foreignness intervenes, and a group rooted in Arabness, so we need to hear these people because they are closer and better at what is called the jurisprudence of language, and this is what your people did not touch when they touched the jurisprudence of reality. I wonder what the niqab is?
The questioner: But did the niqab have one form in the past, or did it have multiple forms?
The Shaykh: When we get the answer to that question, you take the answer from that answer!
The questioner: I do not know, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh: Hehe, may Allah reward you with good. Expand the research. We say the niqab does not have one image, but I draw attention to the fact that the multiplicity of these images of the niqab should not make us forget that from this niqab or question, is this from this niqab or not? If the answer is yes, this is one of the images, then why is it prevented!
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: I only asked you to benefit from your speech!
The questioner: Yes, may Allah bless you.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.