Title: Face Covering Question: I asked a friend who cover's her face to provide me with some hadith that emphasize on face covering and she provided me with the following: Sahih Al-Bukhari Volume 6, Book 60, Hadith # 282 Narrated Safiya bint Shaiba (Radhiallaahu Ánha) "Aisha (Radhiallaahu Ánha) used to say: "When (the Verse): "They should draw their veils over their necks and bosoms," was revealed, (the ladies) cut their waist sheets at the edges and covered their faces with the cut pieces. Abu Dawood Book 14, Hadith # 2482 Narrated Thabit ibn Qays (Radhiallaahu Ánhu): A woman called Umm Khallad came to the Prophet (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam) while she was veiled. She was searching for her son who had been killed (in the battle) Some of the Companions of the Prophet (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam) said to her: You have come here asking for your son while veiling your face? She said: If I am afflicted with the loss of my son, I shall not suffer the loss of my modesty. Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam) said: You will get the reward of two martyrs for your son. She asked: Why is that so, oh Prophet of Allah? He replied: Because the people of the Book have killed him. Abu Dawood Book 32, Hadith # 4091 Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin (Radhiallaahu Ánha) "May Allah have mercy on the early immigrant women. When the verse "That they should draw their veils over their bosoms" was revealed, they tore their thick outer garments and made veils from them. Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalanee, who is known as Ameer Al-Mu'mineen in the field of Hadith, said that the phrase, "covered themselves", in the above Hadith means that they "covered their faces". [Fath Al-Bari]. According to Imam Ahmed Ibn Hanbal, Iman Shaf'ee, Imam Malik, covering the face is wajab. Definition of wajab is something that is not clear in the Qur'an, as being fard but is clear in the hadith of prophet Muhammad (sallahu alahi wasalam). Imam Abu hanifa said that if it's not the era of fitna then women could leave their face open. Later on his students said that era of fitna has already started. This is from the book "Hijab" written by Shaikh Ibn Uthaimin This is also in the book "Hijab" by Abdul Aziz Adweesh. "The Ullima who are of the opinion that it is permissible to look at the face and hands of a strange woman (who is not mahrrum) say so mainly for the following reasons: The hadith of Aisha (Radhiallaahu Ánha) when Asmaa (Radhiallaahu Ánha) the daughter of Abu Bakr came to the Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam) while wearing thin clothing. He approached her and said: 'O Asmaa! When a girl reaches the menstrual age, it is not proper that anything should remain exposed except this and this. He pointed to the face and hands. But this hadith is WEAK because of 2 main weaknesses. There is no link between Aisha (Radhiallaahu Ánha) and Khalid bin Dareek, who narrated the hadith from her. And in every chain of narrators Khalid bin Dareek is mentioned. In the chain of narrators Sa'eed bin Basheer appears, who is known by most of the Muhaditheen as being a weak narrator. This has been mentioned by Imaam Ahmad bin Hanbal (Rahimahullah), An-Nasai (Rahimahullah), Ibn Madeeni (Rahimahullah) and Ibn Ma'een (Rahimahullah). This is also why Imaam Bukhari (Rahimahullah) and Muslim (Rahimahullah) did not except this hadith to be in their books. (From Shaikh Ibn Uthaimin in the book "Hijaab" pages # 17 and 18.) We also have to see that the Muhadith Abu Dawood when he quoted this hadith put with it that it is Musal (with a broken chain that does not lead up to the Sahaba). (From The Book "Hijaab wa Safur" under tha fatwaa of Shaikh AbulAziz Bin Bazz on Page #61. Also stated as being weak by Shaikh Nasirudden Al-Albaani in his Daeef Sunan Abu Dawud in Kitab-ul-Libas under hadeeth number 4092 (which is the original hadeeth number.) It has also been mentioned in the magazine called "Al Hijrah" that Ullima agree this hadith is weak.) An other thing that shows the weakness of this hadith is that after the ayah for hijab (Surah Al-Ahzaab - Verse #59) was revealed then the women of Sahaba wore a complete veil and covered the faces and hands. This includes Asmaa (Radhiallaahu Ánha) the daughter of Abu Bakr, who is supposed to have narrated this hadith. Asmaa (Radhiallaahu Ánha) covered herself completely including the face, this has been narrated in authentic hadith in Imaam maliks "MUWATTA Book 20 Hadith # 20.5.16." " Can I please have some opinion regarding them? Dayna Ahmed Canada Answer: In our previous responses to similar questions we have explained that the directive regarding face covering, for women outside of their home, was promulgated for specific circumstances. The strategy was not ordained to avoid any consequence of natural attraction between members of the opposite sex, which is ubiquitous in all societies and circumstances. Rather, the believing women were directed to take their outer garments and cover themselves to help them be identified as free believing women. This aided them in avoiding any harassment by some of the hypocrites who were out to scandalize the believing women in general and the household of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) in particular [1] . Since the edict was meant for the believing women who were directly facing the related situation, there would have been no reason for them to ignore the directive. Therefore, they showed a response expected from pure believing women. The directive contained in the referred verse of Surah Ahzab is not a general commandment of the Shari`ah . It only pertains to a specific situation and was introduced to cope with a problem at hand. Imam Abu Hanifa in his referred opinion has identified the exact nature of the directive and the circumstances in which it is applicable. Regards, Tariq Mahmood Hashmi January 12, 2004 [1] For details refer to: Is it Essential for a Woman to Hide her Face? and Is a Woman Directed to Hide her Face?