Question:

Answer:

First of all Dr. Zakir Naik is a specialist in comparative religion and knowledge of the detailed fiqh rulings of the Deen can only be gained from specialists in Fiqh. These specialists are the likes of Imams such as Imam Abu Hanifah, Malik, Shafi and Ahmad (rahimahumullah). Thus I would advise you to adhere to one school from the four and learn its masail as that will save you from confusion and misguidance.

The truth is, this is not only the opinion of the vast majority of classical scholars, it was the normal dress of the respectable honourable women of this Ummah, who would not leave their homes without first covering their faces. With the affects of the onslaught of imperialism and colonisation, it was bad enough that these religious symbols and manifestations of obedience to Allah taala and His Messeneger (SAW) were uprooted from this Ummah, but now to find some Muslims trying to justify it, rather than reform it, is lamentable to say the least.

The majority of scholars agreed that it was wajib (obligatory-and to leave it is sinful) for a young woman to cover her face and the few who differed also concurred that it is wajib when fitna (temptation) exists. Thus with the passage of time, they also asserted the obligatoriness of the Niqab as they witnessed, those far off centuries ago, a loss of shame and the rise in corruption. Now in the twenty first century, when no male lowers his gaze and even women in hijabs go around having embellished their faces, just in case a person fails to become tempted by them, there cannot be any doubt that the Niqab is obligatory.

Niqab the practice of the female believers in all ages

Just as the Messenger of Allah (SAW) is a Mercy unto mankind so too is the Ummah that represents his noble Deen. Thus the Ummah, provided it lives up to the teachings of Islam, is no better model of piety, modesty and righteousness on the face of this planet. It is not like other nations that merely exist to exploit other nations and have no greater goal than hedonism. In contradistinction to this is the Islamic Ummah about whose lofty rank Allah taala himself bore testimony; the Holy Qur’an says:

You are the best of nations raised for Mankind, you command to good and forbid the wicked and you affirm belief in God (Sura Al Imran:110)

Now, it was from the characteristics of this distinguished Ummah that its daughters and mothers would observe the Niqab when outside the house. This was something common amongst the female believers from East to West. Imam Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani writes in his monumental commentary of Sahih al-Bukhari:

The continuous practice was upon the permissibility of women going to the Masjids, markets, and journeys in Niqab so that men do not see them….Men have continuously, throughout the ages, shown their faces and women when going out would have their faces covered. (Fath al-Bari, vol.9 p.337).

Elsewhere he writes:

The practice of women in the past and presently is that they cover their faces from strange men.” (Ibid, vol.9 p.424).

Imam Ghazali writes similarly in his book Ihya uloom al-Deen;

Men have over the ages continued to reveal their faces just as women would go out wearing Niqabs. (vol.2 p.53)

The majority of the Muslim Scholars on Niqab

The Hanafi School

Imam Abu Bakr al-Jassas writes in his commentary of the Holy Qur’an:

The young woman has been ordered to cover her face from the stranger and displaying modesty and chastity so that the corrupt do not show desire for her. (Ahkam al-Qur’an, vol.3 p.458)

Imam Sarkhasi states:

The unlawfulness of looking to a woman is for fear of fitna (temptation) and the threat of fitnah comes from looking at her face, for most her attractive features are on her face, much more than any other of her limbs. (Al-Mabsut, vol.10 p.152)

In the most authorative Hanafi Fataawa compilation, Rad al-Muhtar, Imam Ala` al-Din al-Hanafi (RA) writes:

The young woman will be prohibited from revealing her face amongst men.

Explaining this, Imam Ibn Aabideen writes:

It means she will be prevented from revealing (it) due to the fear that men will see her face thus creating temptation…. (vol.2 p.79)

The commentator of Sunnan Abu Daud, Imam Khalil Ahmad al-Saharanfuri writes in his Badhl al-Majhood:

The Muslims have agreed on prohibiting women from going out of their homes with their faces uncovered, especially at a time of great corruption and its dominance. (vol.16 p.431)

The Muhadith Imam Badr al-Din al-Ayni writes in his commentary of Sahih al-Bukhari, Umdat al-Qari, commentating on the Hadith of Aisha (RA) that Aflah came and asked for permission to enter, after the ruling for Hijab had been revealed, he comments:

It tells us it is not permitted for a woman to allow a man who is not her Mahram to enter upon her and it is wajib/obligatory for her to conceal herself from him by consensus. (Vol.20 p.98)

The Maliki School

Imam Al-Abi records in Jawaahir al-Ikleel that the Maliki scholar Ibn Marzooq has stated that,

The Mashoor (well-known) opinion in the Madhab of Imam Malik is that it is obligatory (Wujoob) to cover the face and hands if there is fear of a stranger looking at her. (vol.1 p.41)

In the most authoritative modern Maliki Fataawa collection Al-Miyar, Imam Ahmad al-Wansharisi records the following Fatwa concerning an Imam whose wife leaves the home without covering her face. It states:

It is not permitted for him to be made an Imam that leads Salah, his testimony will not be accepted in a court of law, nor will it be permitted to give him Zakah if he has a need for it. He will remain under the wrath of Allah as long as he continues to allow that. (vol.11 pp.193-194)

Qadi Abu Bakr Bin al-Arabi states in his juridical tafsir of the Holy Quran Ahkam al-Qur’an:

The woman is in her entirety `Awrah (that which must be concealed), her body and her voice. Hence it will not be permitted to reveal that except due to a dire need or necessity such as when she is being testified against or due to some disease upon her body or in order to ask her about what pains she feels  (Vol.3 p.1578).

The Shafi School

Imam Nawawi states in his Fataawa:

It is not permitted for a Muslim woman to reveal her face etc….and this is the sound view in the madhab of Imam Shafi (RA) (p.192).

It is recorded in Rawdat al-Talibeen that Imam Shafi said:

There is consensus of the Muslims upon prohibiting their women from going out with their faces uncovered (Vol.5 p.366).

Imam Al-Sharqawi writes in his commentary on the Shafi text Tuhfat al-Tullaab:

The `Awrah of the free female outside of Salah in relation to strangers looking at her, is her whole body including even the face and hands. That is the case even if there is no chance of temptation (Vol.1 p.174).

The famous Shafi Mufassir Abu Hayyan writes in his Exegesis of the Holy Qur’an Al-Bahr al-Muheet:

Similarly it is the common practice in the land of Muslim Spain (Al-Andalus) that women do not show (outside of their homes) except one eye (Vol.7 p.240).

The Hanbali School

Imam Ahmad is narrated as saying in Al-Furoo`:

The nail of a woman is `Awrah. Thus if she leaves her home she must not show anything of herself, not even her Khuff (leather sock) as the Khuff shows the shape of her foot (i.e. skin tight clothing is, according to the Shariah, within the ruling of nakedness) (Vol.1 p.601).

Imam Ibn Taymiyya writes in Minhaj al-Sunnah:

There is consensus of the Muslims upon prohibiting women going out with their faces uncovered because the look is likely to cause temptation.

The Evidences

For the non-scholar incapable of fully encompassing the evidences on the subject, neither in their number nor in terms of grasping their multi-layers of linguistic and legal content, he or she should submit to the unanimous position of the Muslim jurists. Having said this, below are the main evidences for this position and are only given here in order to complete the discussion.

[1] The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said:

The woman is `Awrah (A thing that must be concealed). (Jami al-Tirmidhi)

[2] Chapter Al-Nur, Verse:30

Tell the believing men that they must lower their gazes and guard their private parts; it is more decent for them. Surely Allah is All-Aware of what they do. And tell the believing women that they must lower their gazes and guard their private parts, and must not expose their adornment, except that which appears thereof, and must draw their head-coverings over their bosoms, and must not expose their adornment, except to their husbands or their fathers or the fathers of their husbands, or to their sons or the sons of their husbands, or to their brothers or the sons of their brothers or the sons of their sisters, or to their women, or to those owned by their right hands, or male attendants having no (sexual) urge, or to the children who are not yet conscious of the shames of women. And let them not stamp their feet in a way to draw attention to their hidden charms. And repent to Allah O believers, all of you, so that you may achieve success.

In this verse the ruling of the necessity of Niqab can be understood in several ways. Firstly, the Imam of Tafsir ibn Abbas (RA) in explaining what "and must not expose their adornment except that which appears thereof” explained it means:

Her face, hands and the ring (Tafsir Ibn kathir).

Secondly, the verse tells Muslim women they are not allowed to stamp their feet, a severe form of which today would be the clicking sound of high-heeled shoes. It is obvious that when a woman is forbidden from striking the floor due to it creating diversion to her, then how is it possible that thing which creates the most diversion and temptation, namely her face, be permitted to show?

[3] Chapter al-Ahzab, Verse:59

O prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers that they should draw down their covers over themselves. That will make it more likely that they are recognized (for decent women) and not harmed. And Allah is Most-Forgiving, Very-Merciful.

Ibn Abbas (RA) states concerning this verse that:

Allah commanded the women of the believers that when they go outside of their houses for a need that they cover their faces from above their heads using their wraps (Tafsir Ibn Kathir).

Further confirming this tafsir the Tabee` Ibn Sireen says he asked Ubayda al-Sulaymani about these words draw down their covers over themselves, and what it means. Ubaydah covered his face and his head with a cloth and showed his left eye, (Ibid).

Some have tried to argue that this is specifically an order for the wives of the Prophet (SAW). The reply to this is that firstly, the verse clearly says the women of the believers. Secondly, surely the pious wives of the messenger of Allah (SAW) are role models for our women folk. Thus a natural desire of a true believing woman would be to aspire to be like them rather than emulate corrupt indecent women. And the mothers of the believers, as Allah taala declared them, would all observe the Niqab and about this there is no difference of opinion.

[4] Ibn Umar (RA) narrates from the Messenger of Allah (SAW) that he said “Women will not wear Niqab in Ihram nor will they wear gloves,” (Sahih al-Bukhari). The jurist Qadi Abu Bakr bin al-Arabi said: “This is because her covering her face with the face-covering is an obligation except during the Hajj. Rather she will lower something of her headscarf over her face without it touching her face and avoid the men as they will avoid her.”

Finally, in view of the above our sisters should not view the Niqab and the Jilbab as a burden, if someone does then he/she has lost their sense of Iman. The believing sisters will no doubt feel pride in these precious teachings of Islam and view them as a means of honouring them. We all have a duty to pass this message on to those who know not especially those sisters who bizarrely use the Hijab as a means of further beautifying themselves and who on the one hand will put a cloth on their head, a sign of modesty, yet wear tight clothes that leave nothing to the imagination. They may think they are dressed but are in fact naked according to Allah taala and His Messenger, and thus are inviting the wrath of Allah taala upon themselves. The Messeenger of Allah said: “…those women who are naked despite being clothed who are themselves lewd and entice others, who prop up their hair like a camels back, will not enter Heaven nor will they smell its fragrance even though it fragrance is found for many miles" (Sahih Muslim).

It is also the duty of fathers and husbands to educate their daughters and wives about their real preciousness and how Islam has given them dignity. The state of our men folk today is such that there is no sense of shame or honour that motivates them. Thus they happily permit their beloved wives and daughters to dress in immodest dress and parade themselves before the perverted eyes of strange men as female cashiers behind shop counters and airline hostesses. Where have the honour and dignity of the believers gone? It is narrated that when the home of Uthman (RA) was under siege, and at any moment, the killers would storm in and martyr the defenceless Khalif, his brave wife, Nailah, said to him: “Let me remove my Khimar.” What she meant by this was that if these assassins came in to their home, when they see a Muslim woman without her head covered, the sight of her may make them stop and turn back. This was the response of Uthman (RA), “By Allah I would prefer to be cut into pieces than for a man to see one lock of your hair.”

Mufti Mohammed Sajjad

Wallahu Aalam bis-sawab

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The answer to this question is the opinion of the scholar and does not reflect the opinion of other scholars of As-Suffa Institute and As-Suffa Institute as an organisation.