What is the ruling on a woman uncovering her face and hands? And is there a punishment for the husband if he leaves her uncovering her face and hands?
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The questioner : What is the ruling on a woman uncovering her face and her hands? And is there a punishment for the husband if he leaves her uncovering her face and hands?
The Shaykh : The stronger opinion in this issue is that it is obligatory to cover the face from non-mahram men, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted:[An-Nur 24:31] to the end of it, and based on the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Ahzab 33:59].
And based on the hadith of Umm Atiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):, and he was asked (peace and blessings be upon him) about a woman who does not have a jilbab? So he said (peace and blessings be upon him): Sunan Ibn Majah 1307Sahih (Darussalam) And for other evidence mentioned in the books concerned with this issue.
And because a woman exposing her face is a fitnah (trial) by which one who has a disease in his heart is tempted, and it is a greater fitnah than a person hearing the sound of the anklet of a woman who is covered in her clothing, and Allah the Exalted said:[An-Nur 24:31] So if the woman is forbidden to strike her foot for fear that what she conceals of her adornment will be known, what do you say about exposing the face? Is this not a greater fitnah and more dangerous?
And the Islamic Shari'ah is an organized Shari'ah that does not contradict itself, and it is not possible for it to forbid something and permit something that is more deserving of the ruling. The Islamic Shari'ah came with regard to preserving benefits and averting harms, and no rational person doubts that if a woman exposes her face, many harms will result from that, some for others and some from others for her. If she is permitted to expose her face, she will not expose it as is; she will add improvements to her eyes, lips, and cheeks that necessitate the great fitnah of looking at her and what is beyond it.
Then, even if it is assumed that she avoids all of that and exposes her face itself, that is a fitnah by which one who has a disease in his heart is tempted. For this reason, Allah permitted the older women who do not expect marriage to put down their garments without displaying adornment. So the Exalted and Majestic distinguished between the older women who do not expect marriage due to their age and the change of their faces to faces that do not cause fitnah, and between others.
And a person is amazed when he says: It is obligatory for a woman to cover her foot, but it is not obligatory for her to cover her face and hands. Even if it is assumed that no texts were found regarding the obligation of covering the face, whoever affirms the obligation of covering the foot is obligated by the stronger analogy to say that it is obligatory to cover the face and hands, because they are more deserving of covering than the covering of the feet. This is a matter that when a person reflects on it, he finds that it is not permissible to say that uncovering the face is permissible while forbidding the uncovering of the foot, because of the apparent contradiction in that.
It remains to be said: Uncovering the face is needed by the woman to look at her path.
And the answer to that is to say: Those who permitted uncovering the face did not restrict that to a need, but they permitted her to uncover her face even if she was sitting in her place. Then, the need is removed by using the niqab, which was known in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), as indicated by his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) about the woman in ihram:.
For it is evidence that it was their custom to wear the niqab, and it is known that if a woman wears the niqab by opening two openings for her eyes to the extent of the need, she will see the path.
But the consideration also remains in the issue of the niqab, for although the niqab is permissible in principle, we see that some women, and may Allah protect us, have expanded it and have beautified their eyes with captivating kohl, then they open a niqab wider than their eye such that the eyebrows appear, and perhaps the forehead or part of it appears, and perhaps the cheeks appear. And women, due to their lack of patience and deficiency in their religion, do not stop at a limit in these matters.
So if it were said to forbid the niqab from the perspective of sadd al-dhara'i' (blocking the means to harm), it would have a basis, because sadd al-dhara'i' is a legal principle indicated by the Book, the Book of Allah the Exalted and Majestic, and indicated by the Sunnah, and indicated by the practice of the Rightly Guided Caliphs:
So in the Book, Allah the Exalted and Majestic says:[Al-An'am 6:108] So Allah the Exalted forbade cursing the gods of the polytheists, even though it is required by the Shari'ah to block the means to cursing Allah the Exalted and Majestic.
And in the Sunnah, there are many hadiths indicating the averting of harms and forbidding the means to them and the paths, and among that is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) when he was asked about selling fresh dates for dried dates: They said: Yes, so he forbade that.
And as for the practice of the Rightly Guided Caliphs in sadd al-dhara'i', among it is the obligation imposed by 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) regarding the triple divorce, if a man divorces his wife three times. For it was in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the time of Abu Bakr and two years of the caliphate of 'Umar that it was considered one divorce. Then he saw that people had hastened in this matter and rushed in what required patience for them, so he obligated them to the triple divorce and prevented them from returning to their wives in order for them to stop what they had hastened in. So we find that 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) prevented them from what was their right, which is returning to their wives, in order to block the means to the triple divorce by which they hasten in what requires patience for them.
So if we forbid the niqab, we do not forbid it as being haram (forbidden) by the Shari'ah, and it is not for anyone to forbid what Allah and His Messenger have made permissible, but we forbid it because it is a means to what it turns into of fitnah, and an addition to what Allah the Exalted and Majestic has made permissible.
As for the husband, as mentioned in the question, he must prevent his wife from uncovering her face as long as he sees that it is haram or that it is a cause of fitnah. The husband may be jealous that people talk about his wife, saying how beautiful so-and-so's wife is, or how ugly so-and-so's wife is. And no one is pleased for his wife to be a subject of talk in gatherings, where they talk about her ugliness if she is ugly in their view, or about her beauty if she is beautiful in their view. And this is also among the wisdoms in covering the face, that a person is safe, he and his family, from being the talk of gatherings.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : The stronger opinion in this issue is that it is obligatory to cover the face from non-mahram men, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted:
And tell the believing women to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except that which [necessarily] appears thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their headcovers over their chests and not expose their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers
وَقُلْ لِلْمُؤْمِنَاتِ يَغْضُضْنَ مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِنَّ وَيَحْفَظْنَ فُرُوجَهُنَّ وَلا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَى جُيُوبِهِنَّ وَلا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا لِبُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ آبَائِهِنَّO Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to bring down over themselves [part] of their outer garments. That is more suitable that they will be known and not be abused. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُلْ لِأَزْوَاجِكَ وَبَنَاتِكَ وَنِسَاءِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ جَلابِيبِهِنَّ ذَلِكَ أَدْنَى أَنْ يُعْرَفْنَ فَلا يُؤْذَيْنَ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًاAnd based on the hadith of Umm Atiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
That he ordered the women to go out to the prayer of the festival, even the menstruating women and those in their seclusion, to witness the good and the supplication of the Muslims
أنه أمر أن يخرج النساء إلى صلاة العيد حتى الحيض وذوات الخدور يشهدن الخير ودعوة المسلمينLet her sister share her own outer covering with her.
لتلبسها أختها من جلبابهاAnd because a woman exposing her face is a fitnah (trial) by which one who has a disease in his heart is tempted, and it is a greater fitnah than a person hearing the sound of the anklet of a woman who is covered in her clothing, and Allah the Exalted said:
And let them not stamp their feet to make known what they conceal of their adornment
وَلا يَضْرِبْنَ بِأَرْجُلِهِنَّ لِيُعْلَمَ مَا يُخْفِينَ مِنْ زِينَتِهِنَّAnd the Islamic Shari'ah is an organized Shari'ah that does not contradict itself, and it is not possible for it to forbid something and permit something that is more deserving of the ruling. The Islamic Shari'ah came with regard to preserving benefits and averting harms, and no rational person doubts that if a woman exposes her face, many harms will result from that, some for others and some from others for her. If she is permitted to expose her face, she will not expose it as is; she will add improvements to her eyes, lips, and cheeks that necessitate the great fitnah of looking at her and what is beyond it.
Then, even if it is assumed that she avoids all of that and exposes her face itself, that is a fitnah by which one who has a disease in his heart is tempted. For this reason, Allah permitted the older women who do not expect marriage to put down their garments without displaying adornment. So the Exalted and Majestic distinguished between the older women who do not expect marriage due to their age and the change of their faces to faces that do not cause fitnah, and between others.
And a person is amazed when he says: It is obligatory for a woman to cover her foot, but it is not obligatory for her to cover her face and hands. Even if it is assumed that no texts were found regarding the obligation of covering the face, whoever affirms the obligation of covering the foot is obligated by the stronger analogy to say that it is obligatory to cover the face and hands, because they are more deserving of covering than the covering of the feet. This is a matter that when a person reflects on it, he finds that it is not permissible to say that uncovering the face is permissible while forbidding the uncovering of the foot, because of the apparent contradiction in that.
It remains to be said: Uncovering the face is needed by the woman to look at her path.
And the answer to that is to say: Those who permitted uncovering the face did not restrict that to a need, but they permitted her to uncover her face even if she was sitting in her place. Then, the need is removed by using the niqab, which was known in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), as indicated by his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) about the woman in ihram:
A woman does not wear the niqab.
لا تنتقب المرأةFor it is evidence that it was their custom to wear the niqab, and it is known that if a woman wears the niqab by opening two openings for her eyes to the extent of the need, she will see the path.
But the consideration also remains in the issue of the niqab, for although the niqab is permissible in principle, we see that some women, and may Allah protect us, have expanded it and have beautified their eyes with captivating kohl, then they open a niqab wider than their eye such that the eyebrows appear, and perhaps the forehead or part of it appears, and perhaps the cheeks appear. And women, due to their lack of patience and deficiency in their religion, do not stop at a limit in these matters.
So if it were said to forbid the niqab from the perspective of sadd al-dhara'i' (blocking the means to harm), it would have a basis, because sadd al-dhara'i' is a legal principle indicated by the Book, the Book of Allah the Exalted and Majestic, and indicated by the Sunnah, and indicated by the practice of the Rightly Guided Caliphs:
So in the Book, Allah the Exalted and Majestic says:
And do not insult those they invoke other than Allah, lest they insult Allah in enmity without knowledge
وَلا تَسُبُّوا الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ فَيَسُبُّوا اللَّهَ عَدْوًا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍAnd in the Sunnah, there are many hadiths indicating the averting of harms and forbidding the means to them and the paths, and among that is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) when he was asked about selling fresh dates for dried dates:
Does it decrease when it dries?
أينقص إذا جف؟And as for the practice of the Rightly Guided Caliphs in sadd al-dhara'i', among it is the obligation imposed by 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) regarding the triple divorce, if a man divorces his wife three times. For it was in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the time of Abu Bakr and two years of the caliphate of 'Umar that it was considered one divorce. Then he saw that people had hastened in this matter and rushed in what required patience for them, so he obligated them to the triple divorce and prevented them from returning to their wives in order for them to stop what they had hastened in. So we find that 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) prevented them from what was their right, which is returning to their wives, in order to block the means to the triple divorce by which they hasten in what requires patience for them.
So if we forbid the niqab, we do not forbid it as being haram (forbidden) by the Shari'ah, and it is not for anyone to forbid what Allah and His Messenger have made permissible, but we forbid it because it is a means to what it turns into of fitnah, and an addition to what Allah the Exalted and Majestic has made permissible.
As for the husband, as mentioned in the question, he must prevent his wife from uncovering her face as long as he sees that it is haram or that it is a cause of fitnah. The husband may be jealous that people talk about his wife, saying how beautiful so-and-so's wife is, or how ugly so-and-so's wife is. And no one is pleased for his wife to be a subject of talk in gatherings, where they talk about her ugliness if she is ugly in their view, or about her beauty if she is beautiful in their view. And this is also among the wisdoms in covering the face, that a person is safe, he and his family, from being the talk of gatherings.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.