In *The Muslim Woman's Jilbab*, the author states, "The uncovering of the woman's face was known in the era of the Salaf." What is your opinion?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : May Allah preserve you, Shaykh. A book has been published in the market titled *The Muslim Woman's Jilbab*.
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : *The Muslim Woman's Jilbab*.
The Shaykh : Tabyan.
The questioner : *The Muslim Woman's Jilbab*.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : The book was originally titled *The Muslim Woman's Hijab*, but the title was changed to *The Muslim Woman's Jilbab*.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : The author says: The uncovering of the woman's face was known in the era of the Salaf.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : And he brought evidence in addition to the previous evidence.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : So what is your opinion, O honorable one?
The Shaykh : Our view is that what was known in the era of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was that the woman wears the niqab, meaning she wears a covering over her face and leaves her eyes open.
And the evidence for this is his statement in the authentic hadith regarding the prohibitions of ihram: This is evidence that the niqab was known among them, and the niqab covers the face and leaves the eyes open. Yes.
The questioner : He says: The uncovering of the face was known in the era of the Salaf?
The Shaykh : Which of the Salaf?
The questioner : The Companions.
The Shaykh : Well, the Companions in the era of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). If uncovering the face had been customary, he would not have needed to say: because it was known. So when he prohibited wearing the niqab during ihram, it indicates that the women in his era were wearing the niqab.
The questioner : Is that correct, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : The most correct view, without doubt, is that it is obligatory for the woman to cover her face from men who are not mahram. It is obligatory for her to cover her face from men who are not mahram.
And we ask those who say that uncovering the face is permissible and covering the feet is obligatory: By your Lord, which is a greater source of fitnah: uncovering the face or not uncovering the feet? Meaning, they say: It is permissible for a beautiful woman, one with a beautiful face, to uncover her face, but it is not permissible for a woman among the ugliest of women to expose her thumb or her little finger.
Meaning, the Shari'ah does not bring this at all. The Shari'ah cannot possibly bring this.
They might say: The woman needs to see while walking. We say: There is no harm. We grant her a rukhsah (dispensation) to open a small opening for her eyes and wear the niqab.
But this indicates the weakness of the human being, and that a person, no matter how much he reaches in knowledge, is prone to error, whether in jurisprudential matters or in hadith matters. Even if he is among the most knowledgeable people in hadith, you will find many errors on his part in authenticating weak hadiths or weakening authentic ones. So do not consider a man, if he has reached a high rank in the science of hadith or the science of fiqh, to be infallible and that he does not say anything but the truth and the correct.
And this is undoubtedly a slip on the part of the one you are referring to, the author of this book. It is a slip for which we ask Allah to forgive him, just as there are other slips by other scholars, and he also has them. And if a person knows the sincerity of the scholar's intention and that he does not intentionally contradict the correct, he asks Allah for his forgiveness. And Allah (Mighty and Majestic) does not hold a person accountable if he interprets and errs, due to the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him):Sunan ad-Daraqutni 26:21 Yes.
The questioner : Did any of the Companions say that uncovering the face is permissible?
The Shaykh : Even if he said it, even if a thousand Companions said it. The Companions were one hundred and twenty-four thousand.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : *The Muslim Woman's Jilbab*.
The Shaykh : Tabyan.
The questioner : *The Muslim Woman's Jilbab*.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : The book was originally titled *The Muslim Woman's Hijab*, but the title was changed to *The Muslim Woman's Jilbab*.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : The author says: The uncovering of the woman's face was known in the era of the Salaf.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : And he brought evidence in addition to the previous evidence.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : So what is your opinion, O honorable one?
The Shaykh : Our view is that what was known in the era of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was that the woman wears the niqab, meaning she wears a covering over her face and leaves her eyes open.
And the evidence for this is his statement in the authentic hadith regarding the prohibitions of ihram:
A woman should not wear the niqab
لا تنتقب المرأةThe questioner : He says: The uncovering of the face was known in the era of the Salaf?
The Shaykh : Which of the Salaf?
The questioner : The Companions.
The Shaykh : Well, the Companions in the era of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). If uncovering the face had been customary, he would not have needed to say:
And the woman does not wear the niqab
ولا تنتقب المرأةThe questioner : Is that correct, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : The most correct view, without doubt, is that it is obligatory for the woman to cover her face from men who are not mahram. It is obligatory for her to cover her face from men who are not mahram.
And we ask those who say that uncovering the face is permissible and covering the feet is obligatory: By your Lord, which is a greater source of fitnah: uncovering the face or not uncovering the feet? Meaning, they say: It is permissible for a beautiful woman, one with a beautiful face, to uncover her face, but it is not permissible for a woman among the ugliest of women to expose her thumb or her little finger.
Meaning, the Shari'ah does not bring this at all. The Shari'ah cannot possibly bring this.
They might say: The woman needs to see while walking. We say: There is no harm. We grant her a rukhsah (dispensation) to open a small opening for her eyes and wear the niqab.
But this indicates the weakness of the human being, and that a person, no matter how much he reaches in knowledge, is prone to error, whether in jurisprudential matters or in hadith matters. Even if he is among the most knowledgeable people in hadith, you will find many errors on his part in authenticating weak hadiths or weakening authentic ones. So do not consider a man, if he has reached a high rank in the science of hadith or the science of fiqh, to be infallible and that he does not say anything but the truth and the correct.
And this is undoubtedly a slip on the part of the one you are referring to, the author of this book. It is a slip for which we ask Allah to forgive him, just as there are other slips by other scholars, and he also has them. And if a person knows the sincerity of the scholar's intention and that he does not intentionally contradict the correct, he asks Allah for his forgiveness. And Allah (Mighty and Majestic) does not hold a person accountable if he interprets and errs, due to the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him):
If the judge rules and exerts his judgment and errs, he has one reward, and if he is correct, he has two rewards
إذا حكم الحاكم فاجتهد فأخطأ فله أجر وإن أصاب فله أجرانThe questioner : Did any of the Companions say that uncovering the face is permissible?
The Shaykh : Even if he said it, even if a thousand Companions said it. The Companions were one hundred and twenty-four thousand.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.