What is the awrah (part of the body that must be covered) of a woman in the presence of her female sisters?
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The Shaykh : Shaykh, may Allah reward you. Who said that a woman’s awrah in the presence of another woman is...? Is it permissible to expose the leg, or the chest, or the upper arm?
The Shaykh : It is astonishing that this question has become common among people these days. I do not know if they want women to wear nothing but what covers the area between the navel and the knee! Yes, perhaps they or the people of evil desire this. If we say that a woman’s awrah in the presence of another woman is like a man’s awrah in the presence of another man, then the awrah becomes the area between the navel and the knee. Do these questioners, or the women asking, want a woman to go to her sister wearing only a pair of pants from the navel to the knee? For this reason, one must turn away from this question. It must be said: A woman must wear clothing from the ankle to the wrist; this is obligatory, just as the women of the Companions did this in their homes. And if she wants to go out, she should make a tail for her garment, meaning a part of her garment that trails on the ground so that her feet are not visible. This is what the Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his book *The Woman’s Clothing*: that women in their homes [cover] from the wrist to the ankle, and when they go out, the woman wears a garment that trails behind her so that her feet are not seen.
And far be it from us to say that it is permissible for Muslim women to go out among women wearing only what covers the area between the navel and the knee. Far be it from us to say this. But if a woman is wearing covering, sufficient, and loose clothing, and then she lifts her garment in order to do some work, meaning... to do some work, there is no harm in that. Or if she lifts her garment to pass over water or something similar, there is no harm. Or if she exposes her breast to nurse her child in front of her sisters, there is no harm. But as for saying to a woman that she should wear only what covers the area between the navel and the knee, no one says this.
The Shaykh : It is astonishing that this question has become common among people these days. I do not know if they want women to wear nothing but what covers the area between the navel and the knee! Yes, perhaps they or the people of evil desire this. If we say that a woman’s awrah in the presence of another woman is like a man’s awrah in the presence of another man, then the awrah becomes the area between the navel and the knee. Do these questioners, or the women asking, want a woman to go to her sister wearing only a pair of pants from the navel to the knee? For this reason, one must turn away from this question. It must be said: A woman must wear clothing from the ankle to the wrist; this is obligatory, just as the women of the Companions did this in their homes. And if she wants to go out, she should make a tail for her garment, meaning a part of her garment that trails on the ground so that her feet are not visible. This is what the Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his book *The Woman’s Clothing*: that women in their homes [cover] from the wrist to the ankle, and when they go out, the woman wears a garment that trails behind her so that her feet are not seen.
And far be it from us to say that it is permissible for Muslim women to go out among women wearing only what covers the area between the navel and the knee. Far be it from us to say this. But if a woman is wearing covering, sufficient, and loose clothing, and then she lifts her garment in order to do some work, meaning... to do some work, there is no harm in that. Or if she lifts her garment to pass over water or something similar, there is no harm. Or if she exposes her breast to nurse her child in front of her sisters, there is no harm. But as for saying to a woman that she should wear only what covers the area between the navel and the knee, no one says this.