What is the difference between the khimar and the niqab?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : May Allah keep you safe. I do not know if there is a difference between the niqab and the khimar. It was mentioned in the hadith of Asma' and A'ishah: "When the riders passed by us, one of us would lower her khimar over her face."
The Shaykh : It appears, and Allah knows best, that this is why we referred to the weak hadith, "Sweat is a stench." We indicated that the non-Arab, like me, no matter how Arabized he becomes, has a stench. Therefore, we wanted to benefit. In answer to your question, the khimar can become a niqab, but the niqab is such that it cannot be used as a khimar. So, between the two terms, from the perspective of Arabic, there is a relationship of generality and specificity. Every khimar can be used as a niqab, but not every niqab can be used as a khimar. This is a philosophy of non-Arabic origin, but it may be correct.
The questioner : May Allah forgive you, O Shaykh, and may He bless you.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good.
The questioner : The prohibition is in the hadith of Ibn 'Umar regarding a woman wearing the niqab and gloves.
The Shaykh : Is the prohibition regarding lowering it?
The questioner : No, the prohibition is regarding wearing it while in the state of ihram. Wearing the niqab while in ihram. I saw Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) in Tadhhib al-Sunan saying: "The woman is not prohibited from covering her face; rather, she is prohibited from wearing the niqab, not from covering the face."
The Shaykh : That is correct. We have no objection to this. Therefore, we say, as a solution to the problem of how a woman should uncover her face while in ihram for Hajj or 'Umrah, we say it is not necessary, although we do not forbid uncovering the face. We say it is not necessary because she can lower her garment, but she cannot wear the niqab. We agree with this opinion. We mentioned this in the book on Hijab in the past, and in the book on Jilbab recently!
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : The niqab should be avoided because it is tied.
The Shaykh : That is it.
The Shaykh : And it resembles the gloves. As for the khimar, it is not tied... This is what many of the people of the Emirates mentioned. They placed this like a cover over the eyes, then they placed the covering.
The Shaykh : What the professor is referring to now is also an unnecessary complication. There is no need for it, because if this khimar touches the nose, let it touch it and be satisfied with that. What harm is there? Unless we make a canopy...
The questioner : This is the result, O our Shaykh, of the madhahib (schools of jurisprudence)!
The Shaykh : I know, I know.
The questioner : It is not necessary that it touches the face, meaning.
Another questioner : Since the niqab is tied to the face, we know that the 'awrah (part of the body that must be covered) should not be exposed. Is there also no evidence in this that the face is not an 'awrah?
The Shaykh : This is directed to others.
The questioner : Yes, but not for the one who says that the face is not an 'awrah.
The Shaykh : No, but I say if we adhere to this, we will be forced at that time to say, as was said recently, that the niqab is forbidden!
The Shaykh : It appears, and Allah knows best, that this is why we referred to the weak hadith, "Sweat is a stench." We indicated that the non-Arab, like me, no matter how Arabized he becomes, has a stench. Therefore, we wanted to benefit. In answer to your question, the khimar can become a niqab, but the niqab is such that it cannot be used as a khimar. So, between the two terms, from the perspective of Arabic, there is a relationship of generality and specificity. Every khimar can be used as a niqab, but not every niqab can be used as a khimar. This is a philosophy of non-Arabic origin, but it may be correct.
The questioner : May Allah forgive you, O Shaykh, and may He bless you.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good.
The questioner : The prohibition is in the hadith of Ibn 'Umar regarding a woman wearing the niqab and gloves.
The Shaykh : Is the prohibition regarding lowering it?
The questioner : No, the prohibition is regarding wearing it while in the state of ihram. Wearing the niqab while in ihram. I saw Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) in Tadhhib al-Sunan saying: "The woman is not prohibited from covering her face; rather, she is prohibited from wearing the niqab, not from covering the face."
The Shaykh : That is correct. We have no objection to this. Therefore, we say, as a solution to the problem of how a woman should uncover her face while in ihram for Hajj or 'Umrah, we say it is not necessary, although we do not forbid uncovering the face. We say it is not necessary because she can lower her garment, but she cannot wear the niqab. We agree with this opinion. We mentioned this in the book on Hijab in the past, and in the book on Jilbab recently!
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : The niqab should be avoided because it is tied.
The Shaykh : That is it.
The Shaykh : And it resembles the gloves. As for the khimar, it is not tied... This is what many of the people of the Emirates mentioned. They placed this like a cover over the eyes, then they placed the covering.
The Shaykh : What the professor is referring to now is also an unnecessary complication. There is no need for it, because if this khimar touches the nose, let it touch it and be satisfied with that. What harm is there? Unless we make a canopy...
The questioner : This is the result, O our Shaykh, of the madhahib (schools of jurisprudence)!
The Shaykh : I know, I know.
The questioner : It is not necessary that it touches the face, meaning.
Another questioner : Since the niqab is tied to the face, we know that the 'awrah (part of the body that must be covered) should not be exposed. Is there also no evidence in this that the face is not an 'awrah?
The Shaykh : This is directed to others.
The questioner : Yes, but not for the one who says that the face is not an 'awrah.
The Shaykh : No, but I say if we adhere to this, we will be forced at that time to say, as was said recently, that the niqab is forbidden!
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.