Is it permissible for a man to look at the face of a woman (who is not one of his mahram relatives) in order to know who she is?

The questioner : We return to what the brother raised regarding looking. Is it permissible to look at some women who are not mahram relatives for the sake of recognition, if they are wearing the Shari'ah dress except for the face and hands, according to the opinion of those who said so?

The Shaykh : I did not understand what is the purpose of your saying "for the sake of recognition." What does that mean?

The questioner : Knowing the woman, for example, this is my maternal aunt's daughter, my paternal uncle's daughter, if she is wearing the Shari'ah dress.

The Shaykh : So your question is not general as it appeared, but rather specific to relatives.

The questioner : And others.

The Shaykh : So why did you seek Allah's guidance? Make it general, my brother. If the question returns to me, what is the purpose of the looking or the recognition that you cited as the reason for the looking? What is the purpose?

The questioner : I am not citing a reason; I am only inquiring. I mean, just knowing who this one is and who that one is for dealing with them, etc.

The Shaykh : You scared me when you did that for cooperation, hehehe.

Those present: Hehehehe

The Shaykh : Allow me, my brother, listen to me for a moment.

The questioner : Is the question not clear?

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : The question is not clear.

The Shaykh : The question is clear, but the reasoning is not clear. Your reasoning for "recognition," especially after you specified the general case at first, then you cancelled the specification and returned to the general case, so what is meant by this recognition?

The questioner : We consider it general for all women: Is it permissible to look at their faces as long as the face is not 'awrah?

The Shaykh : Did you answer the question?

The questioner : No, is it permissible? Is it permissible?

The Shaykh : Looking. We want our brothers to learn, as you know, half of knowledge is asking a good question. Looking at a woman with a normal look is nothing, but the repeated look is feared to lead to everything. So if you are asking about the first look and you cite recognition as the reason, I ask what this recognition is, because everything that is cited as a reason has a purpose. What is the purpose? If you leave the reasoning you mentioned for recognition, the ruling is known in the correct Sunnah. We have two hadiths: the hadith of Jarir ibn 'Abd Allah al-Bajali in Sahih Muslim, where he asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about the sudden look, and he said: The sudden look, avert your gaze. The second hadith is the hadith of 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) in some of the Sunan collections: Okay, the second look: the hadith is explicit about the sudden look. In the sudden look, it says: So what about the second look that you are asking about? Is it permissible? I cannot say anything except that it is not permissible, until it is known what is intended, what is the intent of your saying "for recognition." So your question now is clarified as follows: Is it permissible to look at the woman a second time, and perhaps after that? If you stop here, the answer is no. And the first and second hadiths are explicit in that. And if you say, "I am asking for recognition," the previous question returns, which you do not answer. I understand by "recognition" that it may occur to him, in his mind, to marry her. We say it is permissible. But do you mean by "recognition" marrying her? What is it?

The questioner : A person has relatives, a close relative who is not a mahram. He must, for example, gather in a family gathering, or as they call it, and he is forced, for example, to look at his paternal uncle's daughter or his maternal uncle's daughter. Here they are not mahram relatives.

The Shaykh : May Allah guide you. Your question, O Shaykh, is not balanced. You say "he is forced to look." I tell you it is permissible, but now you pull the word "forced." That is your problem, hehehe.
The audience: Hehehehe.