Additionally, there is no hadith to support Niqab as fard or wajib. It is a minority scholarly opinion, the majority of scholars say niqab is permissible and perhaps as you mentioned mustahab. However, remember that the Prophet mentioned 4 PERFECT women in the world. Maryam, Khadijah, Fatima, and Asya. None of them were niqabis. Hajara, the founder of the holy city of Mecca and the well of zam zam was not mentioned to wear niqab.

So is it even mustahab? It is more mustahab to be an active part of your community, to help the poor, to feed the needy rather than to seclude yourself behind veils and walls. No one, including Muslims take Niqabis serious. When you don’t see one’s face, it’s hard to trust the person or even listen to them. Why insist on becoming faceless when Allah has permitted you to show your face?

And I have heard time and time again, men think evil thoughts even about niqabis….even more so since they become exotic. they undress women in their minds….so it really doesn’t protect a woman from someone with an evil heart.

You’re right, it’s NOT allowed to wear niqaab in ihraam. HOWEVER, there is a hadeeth of them lowering their khimaar to cover their faces when they saw non-mahrams riding. Proving that covering is a stronger waajib than not covering (which is also waajib when in ihraam).

And even if you don’t agree with the obligation of it, then at least agree that most, if not all of the scholars have said it is mustahab at the VERY LEAST. Many of them have said it is waajib/fardh.

The end, Assalam Alaikum

February 5, 2009 • 7:08 am
Thank you Mawlana Mezba for sharing your valuable research!

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You guys are so rigid to maintain sunnah ! and here you are , trying to ridicule a person for his/her opinion. You can’t even respect other’s opinion which is different from yours.Does it mean , Islam is all about rituals ? and it ensure you heaven ?

This is a comment to the brothers in general and those that have been posting. There was a shaykh that once said that the Muslim Brothers nowadays talk like lions but behave like mice. For us brothers to have such strong opinions about niqaab being fard and what our sisters should be doing, while we go out in regular outfits with no scrutiny, is kind of sad. Let the scholars (both men and women) decide and then let the sisters follow the qualified opnions that they are comfortable with and that they believe in. Let the brothers be men and support them.

Maybe we should start listing all of the obligations (that are across the madhhabs) on brothers that we are not following. The fact that the Muslims are dying across the world, it as an obligation on the brothers first and foremost to try and do something about this and there is consensus on this. Yet how many brothers talk about this or feel that they’re not doing something required of them. The men of this Ummah have been given a monumental task, yet the most worked up we get is when we’re trying to quote islamic authority on whether niqaab is fard or sunnah. It is fard on the Muslim men to not let another child die in the arms of his or her grieving mother, and it kills me inside that I’m so pathetic (i speak of myself only) that I sit doing nothing and engage in religious polemics (which I have done many times).

So I say to myself and to my brothers, let us look inward about how many obligations we’re fulfilling and let our sisters who are following qualified scholarship do what they need to.

Forgive me if I have said anything wrong.

http://www.muhajabah.com/niqabdalils.htm

Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) said, ‘The Ihraam of a female is
her face (keep the face uncovered) and the Ihraam of a male is her head
(keep the head uncovered).’

Just as it is prohibited for a male to cover his head during Ihraam, so too
it is prohibited for a female to cover her face in the state of Ihraam.

The argument that it should just not touch her face so she should wear a mask is absolutely ridiculous and goes against the Prophet’s commandments. It’s exactly like the Jews who put out nets on the Sabbath and pulled them out on Sunday to avoid “fishing on Saturday”.

So if the face is a woman’s Ihraam during the Hajj, how is it that it becomes wajib during other times when women are not walking side by side strange men and praying in front as well as next to them in front of the House of Allah? The Quran mentioned that only the Prophet’s wives should speak behind a screen, and this was because of their special status as mother’s of the believers and because they could not remarry. When the Quran specifically says that this injunction is for the Prophet’s wives only, why do we insist it be wajib for all women? Are we more Muslim than Allah and His Prophet now? How do we ignore Allah’s own words?

As a Muslim “hijabi” women, who has studied this issue in depth, I feel secure in saying that the niqab is oppressive, it makes women faceless and nonexistent, and it promotes the mistreatment and “objectification” of women as though we are some evil object to be kept hidden from view. Women are human beings and not the source of fitnah. The hijab protects the women’s honor, the niqab defaces her as someone unworthy to be seen or heard. It makes it hard for regular Muslim women to tell others that Islam is not oppressive towards women, when they see that women can’t even show their face in public.

And whenever this issue of hijab or niqab comes up, no one ever talks about the men’s responsibility of lowering their gaze (which is first mentioned). Why would men need to lower their gaze if all women were required to wear niqab? What would they lower their gaze from? The Quran and the Prophet specifically say that women should cover everything except what is apparant (the hands and the face). The Prophet knew and recognized all of his female companions, as did all the other male Sahaba. How could that be unless they could see the women’s faces. So I really don’t understand where the minority opinion even comes from as the niqab wasn’t even Sunnah, let alone wajib?!

These kinds of religious edicts are exactly the kind that push so many Muslim women away from Islam and into accepting secularism or western feminism. It makes strong believing women who love Islam ask, why does Allah hate women so much that He wants to shove us away from being active part of society? Are we not valuable enough to show our face? Do we not have any talents or dreams worthy enough that we get imprisoned into our homes or trapped under a veil? If niqab makes one so religious, why don’t men start putting them on? There are many more beautiful men out there then women. We need to prevent homosexuality, so let’s make all men wear the niqab to prevent fitnah. Now how does that make you feel?!

Our beloved Prophet was the first ever Women’s Right’s advocate. He did for women in his lifetime what others have since failed, which is make Muslim women feel valued. He warned not only in his last sermon in Arafah to treat women with respect and honor, but also as he breathed his last breath on earth. He said he feared how his ummah was going to mistreat women and slaves and warned “guard your prayers and be careful how you treat those under your authority “; meaning that mistreating those weaker than you is a sin equal to that of missing your prayers. And yet we have slavery still in the Arabian peninsula, and women all over the Muslim world suffer economically, physically, mentally and socially. Rather then discussing how to end this non-Islamic practices, help alleviate the pain and suffering of the Muslim Ummah, and help all the widows and single mothers out there who are mistreated, we continue to argue back and forth on whether it is wajib for women should cover their face. It is for this reason that the Ummah suffers and will not get better, unless we get out priorities right!

so S.K brother we hope that you will move out of aussie now and settle in a muslim country where you can practice your religion without compromise.

recently we went for umrah and at the immigration my mother who does full sharia’ purdah (alhamdulliah) was asked to step into a room for a woman to check her i.d … so these are the blessings of living in a muslim country.

as for all the comments about niqaab and hijab, the purdah of a women is of the face and full body in front of non mehrams. in essence that is purdah. if you u just wear hijab that is not serving any purpose at all… because the identity of a women and her beauty is in the face, so if ppl can see your face recognize who you are then what purpose is your head / body covering serving.

the covering of the head and body is when is the woman is inside the house.. that is why it says that a woman can uncover her face, hands and feet only in front of mehrams … so if you think about it what is the opposite of that, covering of the face and the entire body infront of non mehrams.

now in todays culture this is a tough call but that does not mean that we start saying islam is ok on hijab and no niqaab. infact women should acknowledge their weakness in following the law and strive and pray to Allah that he gives them guidance to observe proper shariah purdah in the future.

they say that to commit a sin and not think its a sin is far worse then committing a sin and knowing its a sin.

Has anyone here for a moment tried to take a independent look at this? Has anyone tried to look at this trough the eyes of a non muslim? The growing discontent is very visible among the non muslims due to these double standards…… AND i think they have a point!

As a practising Muslim born and raised in Australia i am the first to speak out about injustice that Muslims face in Australia or abroad. BUT i am also a realist and this brothers/sisters is rediculous. For example, the sister has chosen to go to a Non Islamic court to ‘testify against an assailant’ but not want to remove her niqab?…why do we act suprise when it was refused? Why do we make it such an issue? If you had’nt noticed western countries are not governed by Sharia and we cannot expect them to be. How about we have a little courtesy and try not to over complicate/inconvenience the non Muslim community where it does not involve a fundemental facet of our deen.

And ofcourse if we are still not happy or feel oppressed then i refer you to Quran 4:97 ;

When angels take the souls of those who die in sin against their souls, they say: “In what (plight) Were ye?” They reply: “Weak and oppressed Were we in the earth.” They say: “Was not the earth of Allah spacious enough for you to move yourselves away (From evil)?” Such men will find their abode in Hell,- What an evil refuge!

Hypocrisy!!! A most undesirable quality for anyone to have especially for a Muslim as it is mentioned in over 30 ayats in the noble Quran (assuming Muslims regularly read Quran that is…).

We ( i.e Muslims living in the west) always seem to be whinging and complaining about some thing that may not have gone our way. My advice as a Muslim Australian “HARDEN UP MATE!”. Was the sahaba so soft? Were they so easily offended? They MOST certainly were not! Are these people not our role models? Next time you find your self complaining about something please spare a thought for the mothers of Gaza who often find them selves picking shrapnel out of their childs chest!

Is it a wonder why many non Muslims don’t respect us?