Question:

In a previous post, the scholar said: "As for the face, for young women it must also be covered, though it is allowed to reveal the eyes."

Can you please define the age of a young woman? If I am only practicing hijab, is this haram? Please provide reference, as I have been practicing hijab based on the hadith where our Prophet (pbuh) pointed to the hands and face and said this was permitted to show.

Answer:

The basic rule one understands from the legal texts is that Niqab should be observed in front of non-mahrams at whatever age a female becomes attractive to the opposite sex, usually around puberty, until when she looses her beauty, usually in old age. As for the hadith you mention, Imam Abu Daud narrates it in his Sunnan. However, in the commentary of Sunnan Abu Daud by Shaikh Khaleel Ahmad Saharanpuri (r.a), the latter explains this is the ruling when there is no fear of fitnah (temptation), in which case, a woman is allowed, for need, to leave these two parts uncovered. However, that is not the age we live in, and in view of the corruption of our age Islamic scholars and jurists have issued fatwas stating that it is necessary to cover the face.

Badhal al-Majhood, Kitab al-Libas, vol.12 p.132.

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.