Is the command to lower the gaze evidence against the obligation of the niqab?
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Question:
Some scholars argue that the niqab is not obligatory for women based on the following. What is your opinion?
[Surat al-Nur:30], he says: Lowering the gaze is to be done in this way, if the woman is completely covered and does not expose any part of her...?
Answer:
The point is that this is used as an argument by those who say that hijab is not required; because if she is wearing hijab, how can one lower the gaze from her? As long as she is covered, how can one lower the gaze from her?
The answer to this is: The woman may not lower her gaze, she may not wear hijab, she may be lax, she may be encountered at a time when she is wearing hijab, so he lowers his gaze. For this reason, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about a sudden glance, he said:, she may appear from a door, or from a lane, with no one around, uncovered, and he may encounter her, so he lowers his gaze. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , and he said to Ali: Sunan Abi Dawud 2149Hasan (Al-Albani)
So the command to lower the gaze does not imply that she is uncovered, or that it is permissible for her to be uncovered. But when she is lax, or when he encounters her at a time when she did not prepare for hijab, he lowers his gaze. And Allah the Exalted says: [Surat al-Ahzab:53], and He did not say: except the face. He said: , then He clarified that this is purer for the hearts of all, and further from the impurity of fornication.
And He the Exalted and Majestic said in His great Book in the other verse: [Surat al-Nur:31] to the end of it, and the one before it: [An-Nur 24:31], Ibn Mas'ud interpreted it as the outer garments, whereas interpreting it as the face and hands has no evidence for it, as is narrated from Ibn Abbas and a group. And others said: The meaning of Ibn Abbas and the group before hijab was that the woman would show her face and her extremities before hijab, then that was abrogated, and they were commanded to wear hijab; and because the greatest adornment of a woman is her face, this is her greatest adornment, or her ugliness, it is the evidence of her ugliness and her beauty and adornment, so if she shows her face, what remains?
Some scholars argue that the niqab is not obligatory for women based on the following. What is your opinion?
Tell the believing men to reduce [some] of their vision
قُلْ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ يَغُضُّوا مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِمْAnswer:
The point is that this is used as an argument by those who say that hijab is not required; because if she is wearing hijab, how can one lower the gaze from her? As long as she is covered, how can one lower the gaze from her?
The answer to this is: The woman may not lower her gaze, she may not wear hijab, she may be lax, she may be encountered at a time when she is wearing hijab, so he lowers his gaze. For this reason, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about a sudden glance, he said:
Avert your gaze
اصرف بصركAvert your gaze
اصرف بصركwhile you are not to blame for the first, you have no right to the second
إنَّ لك الأولى، وليس لك الأخرىSo the command to lower the gaze does not imply that she is uncovered, or that it is permissible for her to be uncovered. But when she is lax, or when he encounters her at a time when she did not prepare for hijab, he lowers his gaze. And Allah the Exalted says:
And when you ask [his wives] for something, ask them from behind a partition. That is purer for your hearts and their hearts.
وَإِذَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُنَّ مَتَاعًا فَاسْأَلُوهُنَّ مِنْ وَرَاءِ حِجَابٍ ذَلِكُمْ أَطْهَرُ لِقُلُوبِكُمْ وَقُلُوبِهِنَّSo ask them from behind a screen
فَاسْأَلُوهُنَّ مِنْ وَرَاءِ حِجَابٍAnd He the Exalted and Majestic said in His great Book in the other verse:
not expose their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers
وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا لِبُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ آبَائِهِنَّexcept that which [necessarily] appears thereof
إِلَّا مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.