Many schools of thoughts insist on a total hijab on the woman which include covering their faces as well. In fact, such schools are driven by their own tribal culture regarding woman and have conveniently wrapped their culture with Sharia. Though there is no harm if a woman chooses to cover her face voluntarily. But making it obligatory for every woman is something unwarranted if it is not prescribed in Quran and Hadith.

In these times where identification of a person has become an important issue because of certain security reasons, this full coverage of woman face has drawn fresh controversy and women are put to unnecessary hardship whether to comply with Sharia or with local government laws. Here are some good references from Quran and hadith which you can refer to arrive at your own decision as to what extent Hijab is compulsory in Islam.

Looking into the Quran

“And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband’s fathers, their sons, their husbands’ sons, their brothers or their brothers’ sons, or their sisters’ sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O you Believers! turn ye all together towards Allah, that you may attain Bliss.”  (Quran 24:31)

So here we see that when we talk ‘covering by veil’ the Quran refers to “draw veils over bosoms or across their breasts”. Without going into details, both a common and woman do understand why this veil is so important for a lady. There is no mention of face here except that some people claim that the khimaar (headscarf) in this ayaat covers the head and the face, whereas linguistically the word only means a head covering.

Looking into books of Hadiths

There is no clear-cut authentic hadith to the effect of making the face veil obligatory. On the contrary, we find several ahadith which prove that covering the face is not compulsory in Islam. Let’s see some of them:

Sahih Muslim, Vol. 2, Hadith No. 1926

Jabir b. ‘Abdullah reported: I observed prayer with the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) on the ‘Id day. He commenced with prayer before the sermon without Adhan and Iqama. He then stood up leaning on Bilal, and he commanded (them) to be on guard (against evil for the sake of) Allah, and he exhorted (them) on obedience to Him, and he preached to the people and admonished them. He then walked on till he came to the women and preached to them and admonished them and asked them to give alms, for most of them are the fuel for Hell. A woman having a dark spot on the cheek stood up and said:  Why is it so, Messenger of Allah? He said: For you grumble often and show ingratitude to your spouse. And then they began to give alms out of their ornaments such as their earrings and rings which they threw on to the cloth of Bilal.

Notice the phrase, “…a woman having a dark spot on her cheek stood up…” seeking clarification on the subject the prophet was discussing…”

It is understood from the above-mentioned hadith that the woman having interaction with the prophet was not covering her face nor did the prophet command her to do so. It is incumbent upon every Muslim to enjoin right and forbid the wrong, as Allah instructed us in the Glorious Qur’an. Thus we cannot expect the prophet, to whom the Qur’an was revealed, to let the woman keep her face uncovered after having known the obligation of covering the face.

Sahi Bukhari, Volume. 8, Hadith Number. 6228

Narrated ‘Abdullah bin Abbas :   During the day of Nahr (10th Dhul-Hijja), when Al-Fadl bin ‘Abbas was riding behind the prophet on his she -camel, “…a beautiful woman from the tribe of Khath’am came, asking the verdict of Allah’s Apostle. Al-Fadl started looking at her as her beauty attracted him. The Prophet looked behind while Al-Fadl was looking at her; so the Prophet held out his hand backward and caught the chin of Al-Fadl and turned his face (to the other side) in order that he should not gaze at her…”

In the above-mentioned hadith we find Al-Fadl looking at the lady because her beauty attracted him. Here too, it is understood that the face of the lady was exposed as the hadith says that the woman was beautiful. Obviously, it is the face that plays the most significant role in making a person being perceived as ugly or beautiful. In spite of this, the prophet didn’t instruct the lady to cover her face but instead turned the face of Al-Fadl in order to prevent him from staring at her, further substantiating the verse of the Qur’an from Surah An-Noor, which says:

“Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that will make for greater purity for them: and Allah is well-acquainted with all that they do.” (24:30)

Sahi Bukhari Volume 3, Book 29, Number 64:

Narrated ‘Abdullah bin Umar:  A person stood up and asked, “O Allah’s: Apostle! What clothes may be worn in   the state of Ihram?” The Prophet replied, “Do not wear a shirt or trousers, or   any headgear (e.g. a turban), or a hooded cloak; but if somebody has no shoes he can wear leather stockings provided they are cut short off the ankles, and also, do not wear anything perfumed with Wars or saffron, and the Muhrima (a woman in the state of Ihram) should not cover her face, or wear gloves.”

Note the Prophet (pbuh) is reported to have said, “…The Muhrima (a woman in the state of Ihram) should not cover her face, or wear gloves.”  Some people say that the commandment of the prophet (pbuh) not to cover the face is specifically for the women in the state of Ihram, thus it cannot be used as an evidence because in Ihram certain rules and regulations change. However, the point to be noted here is that the things that are Mustahab (recommended) can be made Haraam (forbidden), like the cutting of nails, even the things that are Mubah (permissible) or Mustahab (recommended) can be made Fard (obligatory), e.g. wearing two pieces of white unsewn cloth is made Fard for a man, while normally it is Mubah (permissible). But anything that is Haraam in the normal course of life can never be made Fard.

Hence, if exposing the face is Haraam for women, then how can it be made Fard in Ihraam?

Sahi Bukhari,Volume 7, Book 70, Number 555:

Narrated ‘Ata bin Abi Rabah:   Ibn ‘Abbas said to me, “Shall I show you a woman of the people of Paradise?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “This black lady came to the Prophet and said……”

The hadith quoted above proves that the ‘woman of the people of the paradise’ was not covering her face when she had visited the prophet nor was she covering it when Ibn ‘Abbas was discussing her later. Some may argue by saying she could be recognized owing to the dark complexion of her hand and not due to the exposure of her face. However, this argument would carry no weight since she was not the only black woman at the time of the prophet. Moreover, to identify a person, the aspect of exposure of the face is of immense significance.

Conclusion

We have analyzed that Qur’anic verses do not make covering the face compulsory for women nor are there clear Hadiths to substantiate their claim. We should bear in mind that most of the ahadith quoted above, are of the time after these Qur’anic verses were revealed.

Thus, it can be concluded that covering the face is not obligatory for women. However, covering the face was obligatory for the Ummul Mu’mineen, the wives of the Prophet (pbuh) as was Tahajjud obligatory for the Prophet (pbuh). Although Muslims are exempted from its obligation, it is still a highly recommended Sunnah for the Muslims. The scholars unanimously agree that it is preferable for Muslim women to cover their faces.

Though it is not compulsory for Muslim Women to cover their faces but those women who cover their faces show greater ‘taqwa’ on their part. It is a matter of their choice and cannot be forced upon them. Those women who cover their face by their choice are very pious and command greater respect. The point of the entire discussion here is that do not make something compulsory which Shariah has not made compulsory. Doing this unnecessarily opens door of unending arguments, controversies and at the end bring a bad name to our religion.