Author: Mohajer Azizi
An Analytical View on the Ruling of Face Covering (Part One)
Introduction:
The Islamic hijab is one of the fundamental and prominent rules of the religion of Islam, representing a specific interpretation of the Qur’an and Islamic jurisprudence. The hijab serves as a protective barrier for women, preserving their chastity, honor, and purity. Therefore, a woman’s hijab is not only an act of worship but also contributes to the exaltation of the soul while upholding her dignity and character.
The degrees of hijab include covering the head and body as well as covering the face with a veil (Niqab), which scholars have identified as the second level of hijab.
The issue of covering and none covering the face is one of the important and famous issues of today’s society. Some people in the name of Muslim oppose the face covering and veil for various reasons and invite Muslim women to leave the veil. These objections are often raised by citing claims that the face and hands are not private. This issue is mostly promoted among young people and educated people, who have doubts about it due to the lack of knowledge of Islamic rulings in this field. Because of the influence of Satan and the desire of the soul, people who are ignorant of religion and Sharia join this heresy and promote it.
In this regard, most of our words are aimed at a range of Muslim women who do not wear the full Sharia hijab and face covering or are not interested in it; It is also aimed at those who invite Muslim women to reveal their faces in the name of religion and encourage them to be veiled in such an age when sedition and corruption have reached their peak.
I have a question for my Muslim brothers and sisters who have considered this issue normal; don’t they know that the consensus of the scholars and all the holy imams is that Muslim women should cover their faces because of the widespread sedition that has gripped the society? As Muslim women have always covered their faces for many centuries?! Yes, we have evidence for this claim from our past and present scholars who have mentioned this:
1. Abuhian Andalusi lived in the 8th century, he says in the commentary of “Al-Bahr al-Mohit”: “Also, the habit of the people of Andalusia was such that, except of the eyes, the whole body of a woman was covered [in front of men].”
2. Allama Hafez Ibn Hajar, who lived in the 7th century, says: “The way of life of women in our past and present has always been that they covered their faces in front of alien men.”
Considering the importance of the issue of “face covering” in the Islamic society and the prevalence of skepticism in this context, I decided to cite the verses of the Qur’an, precious hadiths of the Prophet, peace be upon him, the sayings of the four Imams and the scholars of the Ummah, as well as the opinions of contemporary scholars, and I will consider and discuss their reasons.
In the first part, the general issues related to hijab have been considered; in this section, the definition of hijab, degrees of hijab, types of veils in different countries and historical proposals for face covering have been analyzed.
In the second part, by referring to reliable Sunni religious sources, face covering has been proven from Quranic verses and the words of commentators with detailed analysis.
In the third part, reasons for covering the face from the hadiths of the beloved Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, are given with the explanations of reliable and knowledgeable hadith scholars.
In the fourth part, the opinion of the four Imams, scholars and jurists of the of Ummah and contemporary scholars and jurists regarding “covering the face and using the veil (Burqa) are mentioned.
According to the researches and surveys conducted in this field, it can be concluded that this research has comprehensively addressed all aspects related to the subject. We hope that Almighty Allah will accept this research from us, and we can use it to improve the condition of the Islamic society.
