What is the ruling on women uncovering their faces in our current time?
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The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
May Allah preserve you, O Shaykh: What is your opinion of those who rely on scholarly disagreements regarding the hijab, cite weak hadiths, and resort to interpretations based on opinion, such as al-Jalalayn’s tafsir by al-Suyuti? Is this response sufficient for them? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : Our answer to this is to know that the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed on the obligation of covering the face and hands, but the stronger position, supported by evidence and reasoning, is that covering the face is obligatory. Whoever wishes to benefit from this should refer to what the scholars have written on this topic, and the most extensive of these is the book "Return to the Hijab", in which the author expanded on the matter and clarified what is the truth. It is sufficient for a discerning person to know the evil and calamity that results from uncovering the face in our present time, for faith is weak and desire is strong, because young people have health and free time, and this leads to great evil. As for the one who sees it as permissible and argues with weak hadiths or with defective evidence, his reckoning is with Allah (Mighty and Majestic). However, I have seen a statement by some scholars that the hijab in this era is obligatory by consensus, because those who said that the hijab is not obligatory—meaning that it is not required—excluded the case where fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) is feared by uncovering the faces and hands. They said that in this era, it is not possible to guarantee against fitnah, except if the uncovering is by a woman for whom uncovering is permissible by explicit text of the Qur'an, such as old women who no longer hope for marriage. He says that the scholars' (may Allah have mercy on them) reasoning, or their consensus, that if there is fitnah, then covering the face is necessary, implies that a woman in these times must cover her face. Yes.
May Allah preserve you, O Shaykh: What is your opinion of those who rely on scholarly disagreements regarding the hijab, cite weak hadiths, and resort to interpretations based on opinion, such as al-Jalalayn’s tafsir by al-Suyuti? Is this response sufficient for them? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : Our answer to this is to know that the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed on the obligation of covering the face and hands, but the stronger position, supported by evidence and reasoning, is that covering the face is obligatory. Whoever wishes to benefit from this should refer to what the scholars have written on this topic, and the most extensive of these is the book "Return to the Hijab", in which the author expanded on the matter and clarified what is the truth. It is sufficient for a discerning person to know the evil and calamity that results from uncovering the face in our present time, for faith is weak and desire is strong, because young people have health and free time, and this leads to great evil. As for the one who sees it as permissible and argues with weak hadiths or with defective evidence, his reckoning is with Allah (Mighty and Majestic). However, I have seen a statement by some scholars that the hijab in this era is obligatory by consensus, because those who said that the hijab is not obligatory—meaning that it is not required—excluded the case where fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) is feared by uncovering the faces and hands. They said that in this era, it is not possible to guarantee against fitnah, except if the uncovering is by a woman for whom uncovering is permissible by explicit text of the Qur'an, such as old women who no longer hope for marriage. He says that the scholars' (may Allah have mercy on them) reasoning, or their consensus, that if there is fitnah, then covering the face is necessary, implies that a woman in these times must cover her face. Yes.