What is the ruling on a woman wearing the jilbab while placing a khimar on her head?
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The Shaykh : ... And I want to say to our brothers, the people of the Sunnah who care about following the Sunnah, that their concern should not be limited to such subsidiary issues about which many questions are asked. This is good, without doubt or hesitation. But then they forget their own mistakes, or those related to their wives and women, or those related to their daughters. They do not care about applying the Shari'ah rulings in all these areas. With one hand, they ask, "Is this a Sunnah or a bid'ah (religious innovation)?" while they know that what extends beyond the ankles is in the Fire, and that a woman must, when she leaves her house, go out in her jilbab and place the jilbab over her khimar. This is what we do not find in most of our women. A woman goes out with a khimar on her head and her jilbab on her head, meaning she combines the two: applying the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Ahzab 33:59] and His saying: . We must know that the khimar is not the jilbab, and the jilbab is not the khimar. The khimar is the head covering, and men and women share in it. However, women are obligated to cover with the khimar the entire head, and what it contains of the neck and chest. As for men, their matter is not so. Therefore, it came in the authentic Sunnah that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to wipe, or permitted wiping, over the khimar and the leather socks. So, for the woman who leaves her home, combining placing the khimar on her head and the jilbab over the khimar is an obligatory matter to be implemented. And unfortunately, this is what I do not see in many committed women. As for the others, we do not ask about them. Likewise, we find that men lengthen their trousers, pants, jilbabs, or abayas. None of this should be. Rather, it is a characteristic of students of knowledge that their garment, of whatever type, does not extend beyond the ankles. It is better for it to be shorter and shorter. May Allah reward you with good. This is a reminder, and the reminder benefits the believers. Now, attend to the food. Yes.
The questioner : ... The woman wears the jilbab, then wears the khimar over it ...
The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you, if someone else had said it,
The questioner : He lives in al-Qasim. In Buraydah.
The Shaykh : It is fine, but the people of al-Qasim do not do it this way. In al-Qasim, the jilbab is placed on the head. He says she is wearing a jilbab and places the khimar over the jilbab. This is what he means. This is not a jilbab; this is a long jacket, is it not?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : She is your sister, so you misunderstood. The one you are pointing to is, first, not wearing a jilbab, that is certain. Then, she may not be wearing a khimar with a proper khimar. Why? Because the one you are pointing to is only placing what is called today an "ishar," a handkerchief. This does not become loose or wide enough for the woman to cover her hair, shoulders, chest, and neck with it. Many of these "khimars" that are not khimars cover her neck from here, and something shows from here, or perhaps this small part, or something of her sideburns and the front of her head and some of her hair shows. This is not a khimar either. Therefore, she has not worn a khimar nor a jilbab. Therefore, we emphasize that the khimar must be a prayer khimar, and over it comes the jilbab. It is the jilbab that covers the woman from her head to her feet. As for the long "balta," this is an innovation of the present age. And by "innovation" I mean this Arabic word, meaning a new matter. But if she wears the long "balta" and covers even the tops of her feet, and it is loose and does not tighten her waist or anything of her shoulders, and then she puts over it something like a jilbab, a "malayah," meaning, and this "malayah" is over the khimar, we have no objection to it. Because the jilbab is not a devotional act, but its meaning is rational. The intention is to cover the body. So if we assume the jilbab is two pieces, and these two pieces fully realize the meaning of the Shari'ah jilbab, and the woman used them but did not forget to wear a khimar and place the jilbab over the khimar, then at that time she has combined the implementation of the two Quranic commands. Is that clear?
The questioner: Yes.
O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to bring down over themselves [part] of their outer garments
يا أيها النبي قل لأزواجك وبناتك ونساء المؤمنين يدنين عليهن من جلابيبهنAnd let them draw their khumur over their chests
وليضربن بخمورهن على جيوبهنThe questioner : ... The woman wears the jilbab, then wears the khimar over it ...
The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you, if someone else had said it,
The questioner : He lives in al-Qasim. In Buraydah.
The Shaykh : It is fine, but the people of al-Qasim do not do it this way. In al-Qasim, the jilbab is placed on the head. He says she is wearing a jilbab and places the khimar over the jilbab. This is what he means. This is not a jilbab; this is a long jacket, is it not?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : She is your sister, so you misunderstood. The one you are pointing to is, first, not wearing a jilbab, that is certain. Then, she may not be wearing a khimar with a proper khimar. Why? Because the one you are pointing to is only placing what is called today an "ishar," a handkerchief. This does not become loose or wide enough for the woman to cover her hair, shoulders, chest, and neck with it. Many of these "khimars" that are not khimars cover her neck from here, and something shows from here, or perhaps this small part, or something of her sideburns and the front of her head and some of her hair shows. This is not a khimar either. Therefore, she has not worn a khimar nor a jilbab. Therefore, we emphasize that the khimar must be a prayer khimar, and over it comes the jilbab. It is the jilbab that covers the woman from her head to her feet. As for the long "balta," this is an innovation of the present age. And by "innovation" I mean this Arabic word, meaning a new matter. But if she wears the long "balta" and covers even the tops of her feet, and it is loose and does not tighten her waist or anything of her shoulders, and then she puts over it something like a jilbab, a "malayah," meaning, and this "malayah" is over the khimar, we have no objection to it. Because the jilbab is not a devotional act, but its meaning is rational. The intention is to cover the body. So if we assume the jilbab is two pieces, and these two pieces fully realize the meaning of the Shari'ah jilbab, and the woman used them but did not forget to wear a khimar and place the jilbab over the khimar, then at that time she has combined the implementation of the two Quranic commands. Is that clear?
The questioner: Yes.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.