The Niqab Is Obligatory

My opponent says that the founders of the four Madhabs didn't find that it was obligatory to cover the face. This is a very big misunderstanding. And very, very wrong.Even If It's Not Obligatory, It's Obligatory "The third degree of Islamic legal Hijab about which jurists differ The third degree of Hijab is that the whole body of the woman is hidden from the head to the feet, but the face and palms remain open. The question whether this degree of Hijab (where face and palms are exposed) is permissible has been a matter of difference of opinion between Muslim jurists which has emerged from different interpretations of the words (except that which is open) occurring in Surah An-Nur (24:31). Some commentators have interpreted these words to mean the face and palms, and therefore they have exempted them from the Hijab, and have held that it is permissible to leave them open. (as reported from Sayyidna Ibn 'Abbas). But there are others among them who take the expression to mean burqa', jilbab etc. These commentators hold it impermissible to expose face and palms. (as reported from Sayyidna Ibn Mas'ud). But, even according to those who have called it permissible, the permissibility is subject to the condition that there should be no apprehension of fitnah (situation resulting in some evil consequence). Since the face of a woman is at the center of her beauty and embellishment, therefore, the absence of any apprehension of fitnah is a rare likelihood. Ultimately, for this reason, under normal conditions, opening the face etc. is not permissible even according to the first group of commentators..." So in all reality, even if it is not obligatory in the absolute sense, it is still obligatory in general for the majority of Muslim women if there is a chance of the apprehension of fitnah, the cause of fitnah. "...Three Imams - Malik, Shafi'i, and Ahmad Ibn Hanbal - out of the four took to the strict position and held it absolutely impermissible to expose the face and palms, whether or not there is an apprehension of fitnah. As for Imam Abu Hanifah, he has, though, taken a different view, yet he has subjected it to the condition that there is no apprehension of fitnah, and since this condition remains customarily missing, therefore, Hanafi jurists too have not permitted the opening of the face and palms before non-Mahrams..." All four of the founders of the mainstream Madhabs of today believed the veiling of the face to be obligatory, with only the Hanafi school believing it to be permissible if there is no possibility of fitnah. "...The citations regarding the views of the four Imams have been given in detail with reference to authentic books of these schools in this humble writer's treatise entitled Tafsil ul-Khitab, published as part of the major work on Akham ul-Qur'an. Since the original ruling of the Hanafi jurists opts for the exemption of the face and palms from Hijab, therefore, a few citations of the Hanafi jurists are being given here in which it is mentioned that, due to the apprehension of fitnah, exposing face and palms is forbidden:"Let it be understood that there is no incumbency between the non-cover-worthiness of a certain part of the body and the permissibility of looking at it, because the permissibility of looking at it depends on there being no apprehension of sexual desire - although, that part of the body is not included under 'awrah (that which is coverable). For this reason, casting a look at the face of a female stranger (non-Mahram woman) or at the face of a beardless boy is forbidden when there is no doubt about the emergence of any sexual desire, although, the face is not included under 'awrah (that which has to be hidden)." (Fath ul-Qadir, page. 181, volume 1) From this observation of Fath ul-Qadir, we also come to know the exact meaning of 'apprehension of sexual desire' i.e. for all practical purposes, though there may not exist any desire, but one may have a reasonable apprehension that such a desire will develop by looking at the face, it will be included in the fitnah. When such a doubt does exist, then, it is forbidden to look not only at the face of female strangers, rather, even at the face of beardless boys. In addition to that, another explanation of the 'apprehension of sexual desire' appears in Jami' ar-Rumuz where it is said: 'It means that one's inner self is inclined to be close to her.' It is obvious that the absence of such a degree of inclination was rare even during the time of the early forbears of Islam (salaf). That the Holy Prophet, when he saw Sayyidna Fadl looking at a woman, had turned his face to the other side with his own blessed hands is mentioned in Hadith and is a clear proof of it. So, in this age of infested with all sorts of corruption, who can claim to be immune to this apprehension?" (Ma'ariful Qur'an, Vol. 7) No one can, Mufti Muhammad Shafi.Then my opponent goes on to say that she didn't mistranslate the verse, but I already showed her that she did indeed mistranslate it."When I asked Ubaida bin Sufyan bin al-Harith the meaning of this verse and how the jilbaab was to worn, he demonstrated it to me by pulling a sheet of cloth over his head to cover his entire body, leaving the left eye uncovered. This was also the explanation of the word 'Alaihinna' in this verse." (Commentary by Ibn Jarir and Ahkam ul-Quran, Vol. 3, pg.457)Every explanation of both verses leads to the veiling of the face. If they are not outright explained this way by a Companion.Here Allah tells His Messenger to command the believing women -- especially his wives and daughters, because of their position of honor -- to draw their Jilbabs over their bodies, so that they will be distinct in their appearance from the women of the Jahiliyyah and from slave women. The Jilbab is a Rida', worn over the Khimar. This was the view of Ibn Mas`ud, `Ubaydah, Qatadah, Al-Hasan Al-Basri, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Ibrahim An-Nakha`i, `Ata' Al-Khurasani and others. It is like the Izar used today. Al-Jawhari said: "The Jilbab is the outer wrapper. `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas said that Allah commanded the believing women, when they went out of their houses for some need, to cover their faces from above their heads with the Jilbab, leaving only one eye showing. Muhammad bin Sirin said, "I asked `Ubaydah As-Salmani about the Ayah (to draw their Jalabib over their bodies.) He covered his face and head, with just his left eye showing.' (Tasfir Ibn Kathir, Qur'an 33:59)And here we find the same thing. The same interpretation. It is worn 'over the khimar.' This was the view of many, many Companions as you can see. And both Ibn Abbas and Ubaydah As-Salmani explained that the face was to be veiled. Aisha says to veil the face. The reason as to why the verse to veil came about was when Umar said he recognized Sauda, her face. Upon hearing the verses, both the women of Ansar and the wives of the Companions veiled. The Companions including Ibn Mas'ud and Ibn Abbas say to veil the face, and make the symbolic gesture of even covering one eye. And the words used in both of the hijab verses are translated by the Companions to mean veiling the face. Three out of four of the founders of the Madhabs ruled that the veiling of the face was obligatory, with the Hanafi Mahadab only allowing it if there is no chance of the apprehension of fitnah, thereby limiting the permissibility to very close friends and family who are not Mahrams, the elderly women, and the unnattractive women. Every classical Tasfir translates the words and verses about hijab to mean veiling the faces. There are ahadeeth that speak of women showing their face, but there are also ahadeeth that speak of women veiling their face.