# Must a young woman cover her face because of fitnah?

*What counts as fitnah, and judging later times by the Prophet's*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/hcscudhd8bu/s/2/
- Date: 2014-05-09 · Kind: discussion · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Mufti Abu Layth & Ustadh AbdusShakur Brooks: A discussion on Maliki Fiqh (6:30–11:31)
- Status: a view quoted in order to be discussed, not a position held
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcscudhD8bU&t=390s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/hcscudhd8bu/

**Topics:** Hijab and niqab; Women in worship and mosques

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** The speakers disagree: one holds the books require covering where there is fitnah from young women, the other that such a rule would swallow the Prophet's own practice.

## Longer summary

After reconnecting, the two speakers debate what fitnah would require a woman to cover her face. One says the books define it, distinguishing a young woman, for whom there is fitnah, from an older woman, for whom there is none; the other replies that men are attracted to almost every reasonably young woman, so the rule would become general and contradict the Prophet never stipulating it. They argue over judging later times by the Prophet's: one cites the Prophet's command not to prevent women from going to the mosque and Aisha's remark that he would have stopped them had he seen what women did, saying hers was only a statement against the Prophet's text, while the other gives the example of Abu Hanifa prohibiting a practice, the marking of sacrificial camels [?], because people were not fulfilling its condition. One speaker then begins quoting Imam Malik.

## Sources and names cited

- Ustadh Abdus Shakur Brooks (guest)
- fitnah
- report: do not prevent the female servants of allah from the mosques of allah
- report: if the prophet had seen what the women do now he would have prevented them from the mosque (Aisha)
- Aisha
- Abu Hanifa

## Transcript (machine tier, 6:30–11:31)

[6:29] but just kept getting disconnected some reason my lights lights keep cutting out I don't know exactly okay yeah you're saying about the yeah so but I mean coming back to the point what is that you see if what we're saying is that if there is FNA um and a person wishes to cover the face uh like the woman covering the face in the face or in the situation of FNA I mean there have been obviously many have said that um now the thing would be though that would once again be restricted to certain things about what exactly we talking about in

[7:07] terms of the FNA and oh but they've defined it no say that again sorry they've defined what they're referring to when they refer to FNA I mean what what what do you mean by what have they defined what's the they defined what what see what they're referring to when they when they mention the term FNA yeah in the fact that right and then they put the opposite as those women in which there's no so if we even read the we understand it a girl who yeah she's a she's a young girl then the is there because she's a but if

[7:45] she's yeah right then there's no you see but to to be honest like that now would obviously negate the whole oh sorry can you hear me hello hello I think uh I don't know if it's on your end no it's my end it must be doing something with electricity because it just keeps block blanking

[8:22] out so yeah sorry so so we're saying that you see the thing is that this if we say that look um this F of which they speak is or the thing is that this the fact that men being attracted to women through their faces is a standard definition I mean that men will always be attracted to women by looking at them so this now negates the fact that wait a minute so through the Hadith where the Prophet sallallahu alhi wasallam is speaking because if this principle was to be General as you're suggesting then it would apply to almost every single situation yeah but you see there's a

[9:02] diff you see there's a there's a there's a difference because you see like they split the women in into we find this in our in many different what I'm saying is that this would apply to every almost every reasonably young woman this would just apply to so if you're if we're following this distinction which you're suggesting of the shaba then that means that when the prophet the fact that the prophet never stipulated this no no but see now this is where the problem lies because you see that's that's one thing you see it's very diff one of the problems too is to

[9:39] makeas on later times with on the time of the Prophet Sall it's not but we have n no yeah I get it you have nus but the same would be said for example the prophet sallallahu alai wasallam yeah stipulated that for example don't prohibit your women from going out to the mid yeah but in spite of that in spite of that's what's there then we're going to have to accuse theah of making error because prohibited the women from going to the m he didn't actually he didn't he didn't he said that if it wasn't for this Hadith I would have yeah so he didn't prevent them and he only told his own wife not to so he said that if it

[10:18] wasn't for this Hadith and even AA said that oh if only the prophet Ali wasallam knew what the women were up to but this is her compared to the of the Prophet alaihi wasallam okay no but you see that's that's the difference because what we're saying now is what say that obviously when we understand that when the prophet sallallah alaihi wasallam was order when when the prophet was giving those commands right then we we obviously understand that there were some that were to be understood on implementing that Sunnah just like for example Abu hanifah prohibited the women

[10:56] from I mean prohibited the people from uh cutting the camels because of the because of the fact that he knew that the people weren fulfilling the condition so however the case is the difficult thing for us to do is to go back and make no but we have also text so let's say let me quote to you here you see here is from that uh one of the quotes from IM Malik and then he mentions

[11:30] and it says then following on from that so IM Malik speaking about also says then he follows on also quoting who says that it remains this is

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment hcscudhD8bU/s/2. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/hcscudhd8bu/s/2/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.