Encouraging Women to Observe the Islamic Hijab

The Shaykh : Second: We support him and thank him for encouraging women to observe the Islamic hijab, the Islamic hijab. The most important and greatest aspect of the Islamic hijab is that a woman covers her face from the gaze of men, that a woman covers her face from the gaze of men. And if a woman is commanded to cover her legs and feet from men, then covering the rest is all the more necessary.
Which is more of a trial: a woman showing her face, or a woman showing the tip of her big toe? Yes? Her face, without a doubt. Everyone knows that.
And it is amazing that every noble horse stumbles, and every sharp sword has a notch. It is amazing that some scholars, may Allah have mercy on them, said that a woman must cover her feet but does not have to cover her hands and face. Glory be to Allah! Is it possible that the complete Shari'ah, which considers public benefit and prevents harm, would permit revealing the beautiful face whose image is a trial, let alone its reality, but require covering the little toe of the foot? She must cover the entire foot from the big toe to the heel, but she does not have to cover the beautiful face! Glory be to Allah! But this indicates that a human being is limited no matter who he is. And there is no doubt that they have evidence they use to argue their point, but the evidence prohibiting the revelation of the face is stronger, clearer, and more apparent.
Therefore, we see that a woman must cover her face except for two categories of people. Who are they? The brother? Yes, exactly. Stand up.
The student: The old woman.

The Shaykh : No, she does not cover her face from an older woman or a younger woman. A woman does not cover her face from another woman. Rest. Yes. Please.
The student: The close relatives.

The Shaykh : And? The second category? Except for two, except for two categories of men? Yes, rest.
The student: The groom.

The Shaykh : What? Wrong. The groom is only permitted to look at what is necessary. What?
The student: The boy.

The Shaykh : The boy, my brother, is not a man. I am speaking about men. Please?
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : Wrong, O Glory be to Allah the Great. Does the husband not occur to you? How did he escape your notice? The husband, and the second is the mahrams. And as for the rest of the people, she must cover her face, because of the great trial in that, and because it is the requirement of the Islamic texts. And we are worshipping Allah with what? We are worshipping Allah with what? With what the Islamic texts indicate. It is not for us to follow our desires, .
And for this reason, we find that the women who adopted this opinion, meaning the permissibility of revealing the face and hands, did not restrict themselves to that. Did they restrict themselves to showing only the face and hands? No, they show the chest, the neck, and the ends of the arms, and they do not care about it, and the women expand [their exposure].
Look, for example, at the niqab. The women in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) wore the niqab. The meaning of the niqab is that a woman covers her face with a covering and shows what she needs to show through a small opening for the eye so she can see her way. This is indicated by the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said regarding the woman in ihram, what?: , and this indicates that it was the custom of women to wear the niqab, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade a woman from wearing the niqab. But if we permitted women to wear the niqab in our time, would they adhere to the Islamic niqab? Answer, everyone? No, and this is the reality.
Now, we said the niqab is permissible, so today she opens only for her eye, tomorrow she expands to the eyebrow, and after a week to part of the cheek and part of the forehead, and after a week she wears a veil that is not a niqab. Wearing a veil means covering the lips and the lower part of the face and saying like this. Yes. So the matter involves expansion, and the Islamic principle is that if a permissible thing becomes a means to a forbidden thing, it becomes forbidden by the prohibition of means.
Look, for example, at the triple divorce. The triple divorce means: if a man divorces his wife three times, saying: You are divorced three times, or saying: You are divorced, you are divorced, you are divorced. In the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), the triple divorce was counted as one. In the time of Abu Bakr, the triple divorce was counted as one. And for two years of the caliphate of 'Umar, the triple divorce was counted as one. Then people became bold with the triple divorce, and the triple divorce is forbidden, because it is treating the verses of Allah with mockery. If a person hastens something for which he should have been patient, he wanted to divorce his wife before bringing about the divorce that makes the woman free. What is the divorce that makes the woman free? That he divorces, then takes her back, then divorces, then takes her back, then divorces. This is the divorce that makes the woman free. People began to hasten; if a man disliked a woman, he would finalize the divorce: You are divorced, you are divorced, you are divorced, you are divorced. Why? He hastens something for which Allah has given you a choice.
And if you divorce one, or divorce three, for example. Who is the matter in the hands of? Meaning, a man divorced his wife once. Who is the matter in the hands of? In the hands of the husband. If he wishes, he takes her back, and if he wishes, he leaves her, until her waiting period ends and the matter is finished.
So Satan began to command people to divorce three times. And 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, as you know, was the most precise of people in policy and the closest to the truth, may Allah be pleased with him. With his penetrating insight and wise conduct, he saw that a man should be prevented from taking back his wife if he divorced her three times. And he did not see, may Allah be pleased with him, that he was contradicting the text, because he wanted to compel the man, what? To what he committed to and what he bound himself to. So he said, may Allah be pleased with him: . Patience means being deliberate , so he, may Allah be pleased with him, approved it. And if a man divorced three times, he said: Come, why did you divorce three times? He said: So that you would not take her back. He said: Fine, we prevent you from taking her back.
But in the time of the Messenger and the time of Abu Bakr and the beginning of 'Umar's caliphate, does he take her back or not? He takes her back. So reflect now that 'Umar prevented something permissible for a person out of fear of falling into the forbidden.
We also say that we do not issue a fatwa permitting the niqab if it is a means to revealing the face.
Now, suppose we are in a country where women reveal their faces. My point here is that I do not issue a fatwa permitting the niqab, even though I believe it is permissible, but I do not issue a fatwa for it. And I ask you now, what is the difference between my saying I issue a fatwa that it is not permissible, and my saying I do not issue a fatwa that it is permissible?
Which of you is good enough to understand the difference? If I say I do not issue a fatwa that it is permissible, or I issue a fatwa that it is not permissible, is there a difference between them, or are they the same? Please.
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : One said I do not issue a fatwa that it is not permissible, and the other said I do not issue a fatwa that it is permissible. One said I issue a fatwa that it is not permissible, and the other said I do not issue a fatwa that it is permissible. Is there a difference between them?
The student: Issuing a fatwa that it is permissible means ... .

The Shaykh : No. Sit down.
The student: I do not issue a fatwa that it is permissible, meaning ... that it is permissible.

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly. And I issue a fatwa that it is not permissible? Meaning I issue a fatwa that it is forbidden. Perfect, well done.
Be careful, if someone says I issue a fatwa that it is not permissible, we say you are wrong. How do you issue a fatwa that it is not permissible in a matter that was known in the time of the Messenger?
But if he says I do not issue a fatwa that it is permissible, the meaning is that I refrain from it so that I do not bear the responsibility. And refraining from issuing a fatwa in a permissible matter out of fear of falling into the forbidden is permissible.
In any case, we say that in the Saudi countries, we refrain from issuing a fatwa, what? Permitting the niqab, because it leads to a greater harm. But if we were in a country where it is the custom of women to cover the face and one came to ask, is the niqab permissible for me? We would say: Yes, it is permissible, because the niqab is less severe than revealing the face, and this would be a step in the gradual process. So be careful, everyone, so that the fatwa does not remain ambiguous, because this has been ambiguous for some people. We say: We do not issue a fatwa permitting the niqab if the niqab leads to revealing the face or part of it. This is one thing. And if we are in a country where it is the custom of women to reveal the face, we say the niqab is better, what? Than revealing the face, so we issue a fatwa permitting it.
Now, I say: May Allah reward you. There is no doubt that a woman revealing her face, especially if she is young and beautiful, is a cause of trial. And for this reason, you find the foolish among people following such a woman, and perhaps harm befalls her through flirting, whistling, throwing notes with phone numbers in them, and the like. And this is a reality, everyone, and we cannot deny the reality. If that is the case, it becomes clear that the statement of the obligation to cover the face is confirmed.
Therefore, I advise my Muslim brothers who hear my words here or in other places to advise them to require their women to cover their faces, to cover their faces, and to be patient if they are harmed for it, for Allah the Exalted says: And he turned back from what he was upon of the truth out of fear of harm, but when a person is harmed for the sake of Allah, it is better and a reward.
And listen to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) when his finger was wounded in battle, what did he say? What did he say?
"Are you not but a finger that has been wounded, ** And what you have met is in the path of Allah"
And as long as the matter is in the path of Allah, it is good, good for the person.
Yes, if a woman is detained and it is said to her, "Either you uncover your face or you will be imprisoned," then in that case, her uncovering her face is not a problem? It is permissible due to dire necessity, and dire necessity makes the prohibited permissible. As for mere harm and looking at her, or taking pictures of her, that is not important, not important, because harm—pay attention, my brother—harm does not cause injury, harm does not cause injury.
Is this statement correct or not correct? The one who says it is correct, I will stand him up and discuss it. Stand up, how do we say that harm does not cause injury?
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : By the saying of Allah the Exalted: meaning they will not harm you, but they will only annoy you, this is one.
A clearer proof than this, sit down.
Listen to the saying of Allah the Exalted in the Qudsi Hadith, and the Qudsi Hadith is the one narrated by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) from his Lord. Allah says in the Qudsi Hadith: . So Allah Mighty and Majestic denied that any of His creation could harm Him, and yet He said in the Qudsi Hadith: .
So the reconciliation between the two hadiths is that we say: annoyance does not necessitate injury.
And Allah the Exalted said in the great Qur'an: . So I say that if a person holds fast to the religion of Allah seeking the Face of Allah and following the example of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he is harmed for that, then he will not receive anything but reward from Allah Mighty and Majestic, and they will not harm him, because we have understood that annoyance does not necessitate injury. So I call upon my Muslim brothers, everyone to whom this statement reaches, to raise their daughters, wives, and sisters in the Shari'ah hijab, and the most important and greatest part of the Shari'ah hijab is the covering of the faces from being exposed to men.
So I thank His Eminence the Grand President of the Sacred Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque for this reminder, and I ask Allah Blessed and Exalted is He to make them hear it with attentive ears and conscious hearts, and to make it beneficial for the Muslims.