Women’s ʿAwrah: Obligatory Covering in Islam

Women’s ʿAwrah: Obligatory Covering in Islam

By: Dr Mohammad Akram Nadwi
Oxford

Question:
Dr. Farhat Hashimi, the esteemed teacher and preacher, shared a question from one of her students regarding the concept of women’s ʿawrah: Obligatory Covering in Islam.

Answer:
It needs no elaboration that between a husband and wife there is no requirement of veiling (purdah). However, apart from her husband, a woman must observe veiling from all other men and women, albeit the rules of this veiling are not uniform. Their details are set forth below. The rulings herein do not address the question of leaving the house; that, God willing, shall be treated separately in another article.

Basic Covering:
According to the Ḥanafī school of law, the entire body of a woman, except for the face, the palms, and the feet, constitutes ʿawrah—that is, it must be covered. In the Noble Qur’ān, Allah, Exalted is He, says: “And (women) should not display their beauty except what is apparent thereof” (Sūrat al-Nūr, verse 31).

Some scholars interpret “what is apparent” to mean the face, the hands, and the feet. ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both) stated: “It refers to the face and the two palms” (Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah, 9/281). The same view is transmitted from ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās, Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, and Makḥūl (may Allah be pleased with them all) (Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah, 9/282–283). Imām al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī said: “It refers to the face and the garment” (Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah, 9/281). Imām al-Shāfiʿī said: “It refers to the face and the hands” (al-Sunan al-Kubrā of al-Bayhaqī, Kitāb al-Nikāḥ, chapter on specifying the face and the hands).

The face is not included within the limits of veiling; this is agreed upon by the four imāms and a large body of scholars (Kitāb al-Mabsūṭ by al-Shaybānī, 3/56; al-Mabsūṭ by al-Sarakhsī, 10/153; al-Muwaṭṭaʾ as narrated by Yaḥyā, 2/935; al-Naẓar fī Aḥkām al-Naẓar by Ibn al-Qaṭṭān, p. 143; al-Mudawwanah, 2/334; Kitāb al-Umm, 1/89; al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī, 7/85; al-Inṣāf by al-Mardāwī, 1/452).

Later jurists, due to fear of fitnah (temptation), made veiling of the face obligatory. However, fitnah is a temporary condition; it ought to remain temporary, and must not be made into a permanent or absolute ruling.

It should be understood that the face not being included in the legal requirement of veiling does not imply that men may freely stare at women. Rather, the divine injunction is that both men and women should control their gaze in such circumstances, a matter to be discussed in detail elsewhere.

This veiling applies both in prayer and in a woman’s home, when in the presence of men other than her husband or unmarriageable male relatives (maḥārim) (see Tuḥfat al-Fuqahāʾ, p. 569). The details for situations outside the home shall be addressed in another article.

The Meaning of Khimār:
In the Noble Qur’ān, Allah says: “And let them (women) draw their khimār over their bosoms” (Sūrat al-Nūr, verse 31). The context makes it clear that women are commanded to cover as much of their body as possible, including their hair. ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Allah does not accept the prayer of an adult woman unless she wears a khimār” (Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, chapter on a woman praying without a khimār). Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) asked the Prophet ﷺ: “May a woman pray in a long garment and a khimār without trousers (izār)?” He replied: “If the garment is long and loose and covers the tops of her feet, then (her prayer is valid)” (Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, chapter on how much a woman should cover in prayer).

It is surprising that some attempt to alter the meaning of the term khimār as mentioned in the Qur’ān. It must be remembered that the intended meaning of a word is derived not from the word in isolation, but from the entire sentence and the context in which it appears. Where the Qur’ān uses the term khimār, the verse reads: “Let them draw their khimār over their bosoms”. If khimār merely meant any covering, the phrase would not fully convey its intended meaning.

The Qur’ān, rather than instructing women to procure a separate cloth for covering the neck and bosom, directed believing women to draw down their head-covering so as to cover that area.

The meaning of a term is determined by how it is used by the speakers of the language. We can state with certainty that khimār means head-covering, for this is the understanding of the Prophet ﷺ, his Companions, and is abundantly attested in ḥadīth literature and the Sīrah. All past scholars are in agreement on this point.

It is inconceivable that the Qur’ān, the practice of the earliest Muslims, and the usage of Arabic poetry, all point to one meaning, yet scholars would unanimously agree upon another. I have written a detailed article on the investigation of the term khimār; for further detail, it should be consulted.

In the Presence of Unmarriageable Male Relatives (Maḥārim):
A woman is permitted, in the presence of her maḥārim (father, son, brother, etc.), to show her face, head, arms, and legs. She must, however, cover the rest of her body (Tuḥfat al-Fuqahāʾ, p. 569). In cases of necessity, a man may touch his female maḥārim over their clothing, for example, to assist them in mounting an animal or for another permissible purpose (Tuḥfat al-Fuqahāʾ, p. 569). Imām al-Marghīnānī states: “A man may look at the face, head, chest, shins, and arms of his female maḥārim, but he is not permitted to look at their waist, stomach, or thighs” (al-Hidāyah, 7/205).

Veiling Between Women:
A woman should cover the area from her navel to her knees in the presence of other women (Tuḥfat al-Fuqahāʾ, p. 570). Imām al-Marghīnānī states: “A woman may see of another woman that which a man may see of another man” (al-Hidāyah, 7/203). This does not imply that women may deliberately expose themselves thus before one another, but that if such areas are incidentally uncovered, there is no sin.

Emergency Situations:
The rulings above regarding a woman’s covering pertain to normal circumstances. In situations of necessity, it is permissible to look at a woman’s face, even where there is a fear of desire. Examples include:
• A judge may look at the face of a female witness.
• A man may look at the woman he intends to marry (Tuḥfat al-Fuqahāʾ, pp. 569–570).
• A male doctor may look at or touch a female patient if necessary for treatment, when no female doctor is available.

Similarly, women are permitted to perform ablution (wuḍūʾ) in the presence of non-maḥram men when necessary. ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: “During the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, men and women performed ablution together” (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Wuḍūʾ, chapter on a man performing ablution with his wife). This usually occurred during the pilgrimage or on other journeys.

Women physicians are also permitted, in cases of necessity, to bare their arms before men. Imām Abū Yūsuf reports: “It is permissible to see a woman’s arms, for women need to bare them when baking bread or washing clothes” (al-Mabsūṭ by al-Sarakhsī, 10/153; al-Hidāyah, 7/196).

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