The issue of questioning the niqab or its obligation did not come suddenly, nor did it come from the clear and explicit texts of the Qur’an and Sunnah, nor from the understanding of the Companions and righteous predecessors!
Therefore, its alienation must have begun gradually and little by little, and the reason for this gradualness that led us to the alienation of the hijab and a war against the niqab is because of what some of the late scholars have spread today , of new suspicions, wrong interpretations, and an understanding that is contrary to Allah's order , and His Messenger's instruction ( peace be upon him) and the intention of the predecessors, of the righteous predecessors and the imams of Islam. This is apart from the statements of previous scholars, until they -unintentionally- distorted the definite obligation of hijab
(The niqab) (1), (The burqa) (2), (The veil) (3), (Al-Meisnani) (4), among other face coverings that proceeded the recent ones ; Such as the veil, jilbab , etc.
The meaning of unveiling among the Arabs is for a woman to uncover her face, and what is meant by that is not for her to uncover her hair or her neck . Because it is not known to most Arabs and non-Arabs for a woman to show her hair. Tawbah ibn al-Humayr said:
Whenever I came to Laila, she was wearing a veil... I was drawn to her in the morning when she was uncovered.
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.Interpretations
'' O Prophet! Ask your wives, daughters, and believing women to draw their cloaks over their bodies. In this way it is more likely that they will be recognized ˹as virtuous˺ and not be harassed. And Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful ". (Qur'an 33:59)
Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
“Allah commanded the women of the believers, when they go out of their homes for a need, to cover their faces above their heads with jilbabs, revealing one eye.”
It was narrated that Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said : " Then one of the two women came to him, walking bashfully '' (Qur'an 28:25) .Then he said: (Cloaked by the sleeve of her long dress or her shirt ) narrated by al-Tabari (60/20) and in the narration of Ibn Abi hatim : ( covering her face with her garment ) (authentic hadith) .Ibn Jarir said : walking shy of Moses( peace be upon him ) (and had covered her face with her garment )
Ubaida Al-Salmani said: A woman covers herself with her jilbab, thus covering her head, face, and all of her body except one of her eyes. [ Al-Samani's interpretation ]
Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, said: “ to conceal her face .” So I - meaning: Abu Al-Sha’atha’, the narrator, said: How so ? He pointed to a part of the jilbab at the cheek side , and said: “She folds this and draws it over her face, as it is draped over her face.”
Fatima bint al-Mundhir said, "We used to veil our faces when we were in ihram in the company of Asma bint Abi Bakr as-Siddiq ( may Allah be pleased with them both )."
Narrated by Malik (1/328), (authentic hadith)
Asim Al-Ahwal said: we used to visit Hafsa bint Sirin , and she would cover her face with her Jilbab as a niqab , and we would say to her : may Allah have mercy on you . Allah the almighty said: "As for elderly women past the age of marriage, there is no blame on them if they take off their ˹outer˺ garments, without revealing their adornments". It is the Jilbab . Then she would say to us : and what comes after that? And we would say : "But it is better for them if they avoid this ˹altogether˺. And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing".( 24:60) and she would say: it is the evidence of Jilbab".
Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her said: “A woman lowers her jilbab from above her head over her face.” narrated by Saeed bin Mansour (authentic hadith), and it affirms her other hadith: (The riders used to pass by us while we were in ihram with the Messenger of Allah , peace be upon him.
