Praise be to Allah.
Shaykh al-Albaani (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The conditions of hijaab:
Firstly:
(It should cover all the body apart from whatever has been exempted).
Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the
believers to draw their cloaks (veils) all over their bodies (i.e.
screen themselves completely except the eyes or one eye to see the
way). That will be better, that they should be known (as free
respectable women) so as not to be annoyed. And Allah is Ever
Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."
This aayah clearly states that it is obligatory to cover all of a
woman?s beauty and adornments and not to display any part of that
before non-mahram men ("strangers") except for whatever appears
unintentionally, in which case there will be no sin on them if they
hasten to cover it up.
Al-Haafiz ibn Katheer said in his Tafseer: This means that they
should not display any part of their adornment to non-mahrams, apart
from that which it is impossible to conceal. Ibn Mas?ood said: such as
the cloak and robe, i.e., what the women of the Arabs used to wear, an
outer garment which covered whatever the woman was wearing, except for
whatever appeared from beneath the outer garment. There is no sin on a
woman with regard to this because it is impossible to conceal it.
Secondly
(it should not be an adornment in and of itself).
Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): "? and not to show off
their adornment?" [al-Noor 24:31]. The general meaning of this phrase
includes the outer garment, because if it is decorated it will attract
men?s attention to her. This is supported by the aayah in Soorat
al-Ahzaab (interpretation of the meaning): "And stay in your houses,
and do not display yourselves like that of the times of ignorance"
[al-Ahzaab 33:33]. It is also supported by the hadeeth in which the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "There are
three, do not ask me about them: a man who leaves the jamaa?ah,
disobeys his leader and dies disobedient; a female or male slave who
runs away then dies; and a woman whose husband is absent and left her
with everything she needs, and after he left she made a wanton display
of herself. Do not ask about them." (Narrated by al-Haakim, 1/119;
Ahmad, 6/19; from the hadeeth of Faddaalah bint ?Ubayd. Its isnaad is
saheeh and it is in al-Adab al-Mufrad).
Thirdly:
(It should be thick and not transparent or "see-thru")
- because it cannot cover properly otherwise. Transparent or
see-thru clothing makes a woman more tempting and beautiful. Concerning
this the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
"During the last days of my ummah there will be women who are clothed
but naked, with something on their heads like the humps of camels.
Curse them, for they are cursed." Another hadeeth adds: "They will not
enter Paradise or even smell its fragrance, although its fragrance can
be detected from such and such a distance." (Narrated by Muslim from
the report of Abu Hurayrah).
Ibn ?Abd al-Barr said: what the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) meant was women who wear clothes made of light
fabric which describes and does not cover. They are clothed in name but
naked in reality. Transmitted by al-Suyooti in Tanweer al-Hawaalik,
3/103.
Fourthly:
(It should be loose, not tight so that it describes any part of the body).
The purpose of clothing is to prevent fitnah (temptation), and this
can only be achieved if clothes are wide and loose. Tight clothes, even
if they conceal the colour of the skin, still describe the size and
shape of the body or part of it, and create a vivid image in the minds
of men. The corruption or invitation to corruption that is inherent in
that is quite obvious. So the clothes must be wide. Usaamah ibn Zayd
said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him) gave me a thick Egyptian garment that was one of the gifts given
to him by Duhyat al-Kalbi, and I gave it to my wife to wear. He said,
?Why do I not see you wearing that Egyptian garment?? I said, ?I gave
it to my wife to wear.? He said, ?Tell her to wear a gown underneath
it, for I am afraid that it may describe the size of her bones.?"
(Narrated by al-Diyaa? al-Maqdisi in al-Ahaadeeth al-Mukhtaarah, 1/442,
and by Ahmad and al-Bayhaqi, with a hasan isnaad).
Fifthly:
(It should not be perfumed with bakhoor or fragrance)
There are many ahaadeeth which forbid women to wear perfume when
they go out of their houses. We will quote here some of those which
have saheeh isnaads:
1. Abu Moosa al-Ash?ari said: the Messenger of Allah (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Any woman who puts on perfume
then passes by people so that they can smell her fragrance, is an
adulteress."
2. Zaynab al-Thaqafiyyah reported that the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "If any one of you (women) goes
out to the mosque, let her not touch any perfume."
3. Abu Hurayrah said: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him) said: "Any woman who has scented herself with
bakhoor (incense), let her not attend ?Ishaa? prayers with us."
4. Moosa ibn Yassaar said that a woman passed by Abu Hurayrah and
her scent was overpowering. He said, "O female slave of al-Jabbaar, are
you going to the mosque?" She said, "Yes," He said, "And have you put
on perfume because of that?" She said, "Yes." He said, "Go back and
wash yourself, for I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him) say: ?If a woman comes out to the mosque and her
fragrance is overpowering, Allah will not accept any prayer from her
until she goes home and washes herself.?"
These ahaadeeth are general in implication. Just as the
prohibition covers perfume applied to the body, it also covers perfume
applied to the clothes, especially in the third hadeeth, where bakhoor
(incense) is mentioned, because incense is used specifically to perfume
the clothes.
The reason for this prohibition is quite clear, which is that
women?s fragrance may cause undue provocation of desires. The scholars
also included other things under this heading of things to be avoided
by women who want to go to the mosque, such as beautiful clothes,
jewellery that can be seen, excessive adornments and mingling with men.
See Fath al-Baari, 2/279.
Ibn Daqeeq al-?Eed said: This indicates that it is forbidden for a
woman who wants to go to the mosque to wear perfume, because this
causes provocation of men?s desires. This was reported by al-Manaawi in
Fayd al-Qadeer, in the commentary on the first hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah
quoted above.
Sixthly:
(It should not resemble the clothing of men)
It was reported in the saheeh ahaadeeth that a woman who imitates
men in dress or in other ways is cursed. There follow some of the
ahaadeeth that we know:
1. Abu Hurayrah said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him) cursed the man who wears women?s clothes, and the
woman who wears men?s clothes."
2. Abd-Allah ibn Amr said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace
and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: ?They are not part of us, the
women who imitate men and the men who imitate women.?"
3. Ibn ?Abbaas said: "The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) cursed effeminate men and masculine women. He said, ?Throw
them out of your houses.?" He said: "The Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him) expelled So and so, and ?Umar expelled So and
so." According to another version: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) cursed men who imitate women and women
who imitate men."
4. Abd-Allah ibn Amr said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ?There are three who will not
enter Paradise and Allah will not even look at them on the Day of
Resurrection: one who disobeys his parents, a woman who imitates men,
and the duyooth (cuckold, weak man who feels no jealousy over his
womenfolk)."
5. Ibn Abi Maleekah ' whose name was ?Abd-Allah ibn 'Ubayd-Allah
said: "It was said to 'Aa'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), What
if a woman wears (men's) sandals'" She said: "The Messenger of Allah
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) cursed women who act like
men.?"
These ahaadeeth clearly indicate that it is forbidden for women to
imitate men and vice versa, This usually includes dress and other
matters, apart from the first hadeeth quoted above, which refers to
dress only.
Abu Dawood said, in Masaa'il al-Imaam Ahmad (p. 261): "I heard
Ahmad being asked about a man who dresses his slave woman in a tunic.
He said, "Do not clothe her in men's garments, do not make her look
like a man." Abu Dawood said: "I said to Ahmad, Can he give her
bachelor sandals to wear? He said, No, unless she wears them to do
wudoo?. I said, What about for beauty' He said, No. I said, Can he cut
her hair short' He said, No."
Seventhly:
(It should not resemble the dress of kaafir women).
It is stated in sharee?ah that Muslims, men and women alike, should
not resemble or imitate the kuffaar with regard to worship, festivals
or clothing that is specific to them. This is an important Islamic
principle which nowadays, unfortunately, is neglected by many Muslims,
even those who care about religion and calling others to Islam. This is
due either to ignorance of their religion, or because they are
following their own whims and desires, or because of deviation,
combined with modern customs and imitation of kaafir Europe. This was
one of the causes of the Muslims? decline and weakness, which enabled
the foreigners to overwhelm and colonize them. "Verily, Allah will not
change the condition of a people as long as they do not change their
state themselves " [al-Ra?d 13:11] interpretation of the meaning]. If
only they knew.
It should be known that there is a great deal of saheeh evidence
for these important rules in the Quran and Sunnah, and that the
evidence in the Quran is elaborated upon in the Sunnah, as is always
the case.
Eighthly:
(It should not be a garment of fame and vanity).
Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The Messenger of
Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ?Whoever wears a
garment of fame and vanity in this world, Allah will clothe him in a
garment of humiliation on the Day of Resurrection, then He will cause
Fire to flame up around him.'"
(Hijaab al-Mar?ah al-Muslimah, p. 54-67).
And Allah knows best.
Tags: allah, correct hijab, women, europe, muslim, quran
