What is permissible for a woman to expose in front of women?
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The questioner : Is it permissible for a woman to expose part of her chest, what is called the cleavage, or her arms, or part of her leg in front of women?
The Shaykh : As for the arms, there is nothing wrong with exposing them in front of women. As for the neck, there is also nothing wrong with exposing it in front of women, and the same applies to the head. However, we advise our women with an advice by which we hope that Allah, the Exalted and Sublime, will make it beneficial. We say: The more modest and covering the clothing is, the better it is. And we forbid them from watching what is in these magazines called "al-Bardah" and making what is made or what is displayed in these "al-Bardah" in terms of fashions, because this leads the woman to imitate the disbelieving women, whether she is pleased with it or not. And the more modest the women are, the better it is.
And the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned that the women of the Companions used to wear armor, meaning the intended meaning is armor, meaning shirts that cover from the wrist to the ankle, that is, from the wrist of the hand to the ankle of the foot, and this is the best. Yes.
The questioner : Exposing the leg.
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : The leg.
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : The leg, the leg.
The Shaykh : The leg: there is nothing wrong with exposing it, but we do not say, "Wear a garment that reaches the knee," because there is a fear that women will gradually raise their garments above that. But if, for example, a woman lifts her garment to do some work and her sister sees her, then there is nothing wrong with that. The garment should remain cut to the knee, so we do not see that as acceptable; rather, we see that it should be to the ankle. Yes.
The Shaykh : As for the arms, there is nothing wrong with exposing them in front of women. As for the neck, there is also nothing wrong with exposing it in front of women, and the same applies to the head. However, we advise our women with an advice by which we hope that Allah, the Exalted and Sublime, will make it beneficial. We say: The more modest and covering the clothing is, the better it is. And we forbid them from watching what is in these magazines called "al-Bardah" and making what is made or what is displayed in these "al-Bardah" in terms of fashions, because this leads the woman to imitate the disbelieving women, whether she is pleased with it or not. And the more modest the women are, the better it is.
And the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned that the women of the Companions used to wear armor, meaning the intended meaning is armor, meaning shirts that cover from the wrist to the ankle, that is, from the wrist of the hand to the ankle of the foot, and this is the best. Yes.
The questioner : Exposing the leg.
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : The leg.
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : The leg, the leg.
The Shaykh : The leg: there is nothing wrong with exposing it, but we do not say, "Wear a garment that reaches the knee," because there is a fear that women will gradually raise their garments above that. But if, for example, a woman lifts her garment to do some work and her sister sees her, then there is nothing wrong with that. The garment should remain cut to the knee, so we do not see that as acceptable; rather, we see that it should be to the ankle. Yes.