Discussion of what is forbidden for a woman to wear while in the state of ihram.

The Shaykh : And the author’s statement “If a male wears sewn clothing, he must pay an expiation” the word “male” excludes the female. The female is permitted to wear whatever she wishes; she does not have specific garments for ihram. However, it is not permissible for her to wear what constitutes tabarruj (display of adornment) or adornment, because she will be in front of people during tawaf and sa’y. Therefore, it is not permissible for her to wear such things. Now, is anything forbidden for her to wear? We say yes, some clothing is forbidden for her, and that is the gloves and the niqab. The gloves are clothing for the hands, and the niqab is clothing for the face. It is not reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he forbade the woman in ihram from covering her face; rather, he only forbade the niqab, because it is clothing for the face. There is a difference between the niqab and covering the face. Accordingly, if a woman in ihram covers her face, we would say there is nothing wrong with it, but it is better for her to uncover it, unless there are non-mahram men around her, in which case she must cover her face from them. Is it forbidden for her to wear socks?

The questioner : No.

The Shaykh : No. Socks are forbidden for whom? For the man. Now, are gloves forbidden for the man? Yes, gloves are forbidden for him. Some scholars have reported scholarly consensus (ijma’) on this, stating that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade the person in ihram from wearing what is specific to men, and likewise wearing what is specific to the hand, which is made in the shape of one of the limbs. However, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not mention them among the things the person in ihram must avoid, because it is not the custom of men to wear gloves. Therefore, when it is the custom of women to wear gloves, he said regarding the woman We have finished with this prohibited matter, which is wearing sewn clothing.