Woman covering face in salaah while in public


Question 437

A brother’s wife asks him evidence for covering face in salah while in public. He gave her the below hadith of Ayisha radhiyallahu anha as proof but she says this hadith cannot be taken as a proof since this be a ruling specific to the wives of the prophet (sallaahu alayhiwas salem). How should he respond to her ?

Aa’ishah (radyAllaahu anhaa) said:”Male riders would pass by us while we (wives) were in the state of ihraam with the Messenger of Allaah (sallaahu alayhiwas salem). When they would approach us, (each) one of uswould let her jilbaab fall down from (the top of) her head overher face. And when they had passed on, we would uncover our faces”
(Reported by Ahmad, Abu Dawood and ibn Maajah)

Answer :

The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta’ was asked :

When it is time of Salah (Prayer) and I am in the presence of non-Mahrams (not a spouse or unmarriageable relatives), I keep my face veiled and keep wearing the gloves and socks during Salah and when I prostrate I keep my face veil down; because raising the veil causes me to make many moves in Salah and I keep wearing the gloves and socks. Is my Sujud (prostration) in this description valid?
Answer : What you do in your Salah in the presence of non-Mahrams, such as your covering your face and hands even in the Sujud (prostration) pose, is obligatory for you; because it is not permissible for a woman to uncover any part of her body in front of non-Mahrams, neither in Salah nor otherwise.

May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.

Source : http://www.alifta.net/Fatawa/FatawaDetails.aspx?languagename=en&View=Page&PageID=12444&PageNo=1&BookID=7#P251

In other place, they have mentioned :

All a woman’s body is considered `Awrah (parts of the body that must be covered in public), except for her face during Salah, if she is not seen by non-Mahrams (not a spouse or permanently unmarriageable relatives). Otherwise she has to cover her face as well. This is according to the authentically reported Hadith from the Prophet (peace be upon him) that he said: ‘A woman is `Awrah (i.e. her entire body must be covered). (Related by Al-Tirmidhy)’

Source : http://www.alifta.net/Fatawa/FatawaDetails.aspx?languagename=en&View=Page&PageID=12441&PageNo=1&BookID=7

Compiled by : AbdunNoor Al Hindi