Recordings › Verse in Surah Al-Nur about the Hijab | Mufti Abu Layth · 3 Nov 2019 › Segment 2 of 4
Is it a sin for a Muslim woman not to cover her hair?
hadeeth ahadith ahaadeeth hadis hadees ahaadith muftis wajib waajib wajibat fard farz faraid fard ayn fard kifayah fardh sunna sunnat sunan prophetic practice iman imaan eemaan eeman jahannam jahanam jahannum koran quraan al-quran ulama ulema ulamaa hijaab hejab hijabiScholars who say covering the hair is not obligatory: a valid position
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This segment9:10 to 11:49 · 2 min 39 sGeneral teaching
What this part covers
machinesummary, machine-writtenContemporary scholars who say covering the hair is not obligatory hold a valid position, and not wearing hijab is an equally valid opinion to wearing it, which Mufti Abu Layth calls good as part of a woman's identity. What the Quran explicitly establishes is modesty, and the choice is a personal journey, not something to impose.
In more detail
Mufti Abu Layth says he has been asked what he says in this day and age, given that certain scholars, such as Javed Ahmad Ghamidi [?] and a few other contemporaries, have said it is not an obligation for women to cover the hair. He says he feels they have a valid position, though he would not tell women who cover that they are wrong: wearing what people now call hijab is part of their identity and he would always call it a good thing. Equally, women who do not cover the head, whether uninterested in the discussion or holding that it is not an obligation, hold what he calls an equally valid opinion, and he does not see it as a question of going to hell, because there is nothing explicit in the Quran or the soundly established Sunnah, and a hadith on it would have to be both soundly established and clear. He mentions that someone recently told him they were going to start wearing hijab and that he welcomed it, and says that if a woman was not wearing it he would point out that what the Quran explicitly establishes is modesty. These are people's personal journeys through the faith, he says, and not for others to impose.
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Position stated
Mufti Abu Layth holds that scholars who say covering the hair is not obligatory have a valid position, that wearing hijab is a good thing as part of a woman's identity, and that not wearing it is an equally valid opinion and not a matter of going to hell, since only modesty is explicitly established in the Quran and the sound Sunnah.
“some who are but feel it's not an obligation I would say that that equally is a valid opinion as well”
Category: ruling
Kind: general teachingTranscript
machine9:10 to 11:49 · click a time to seek · dotted terms open the glossary
so I hope that gives some explanation so I have been asked on a few occasions what do you say in this day and age they have have been certain scholars that have said look it's not it's not an obligation to cover the hair for women you've got people like a llama Java how many of you said that you've got a few other contemporary scholars who have said things like that and I feel that they have a valid position they do have a valid position I would say look each - they're wrong you know if these women
who cover the you know if we use the word hijab now because that's what people use who do this it's a part of their identity now I wouldn't say to them ever don't do that I would always say that's good that's a good thing because they you know it's part of who they are and there's some women who don't cover the head and they would feel I mean some who just ain't interested in the discussion and some who are but feel it's not an obligation I would say that that equally is a valid opinion as well so you know you know I don't feel it's like you're going to hell issue kind of
thing so that's my understanding on these things because there's nothing explicit in the Quran or in the explicit established Sunnah sorry and sighs so it must be sorry and it must be sorry there is nothing no hadith that you know non on that is sound soundly established that means they can't be heavily clear it can't be criticized and it must be clear so that's I hope that of some help I have had on several occasions people asking me and like I say look if it's something you're going to do sometimes
some somebody asked me recently saying oh look I'm going to start donning the hijab I will start wearing it what do you think I think fine that's great that's good you know if you're going to start doing it I won't say don't or you know something like that I feel that that's you know I'd welcome that but equally if a woman was not wearing hijab and by hijab I mean this head covering thing I would say that what is clearly established in the Quran is the concept of modesty and that's what seems to be emphasized explicitly by the Quran and Sunnah so if a woman
wasn't wearing the hijab I would feel that that opinion equally has validity so and these are people's personal journeys through the faith it's not for other people really to impose that on people you know and it's not really it's not really for for men to to say to women that you should be covering your hair when you go out and you should be too as in to force it I mean they could say well I believe you should be okay fine that's your opinion but to enforce that to kind of coerce people that would
Paragraphs overlapping 9:10 to 11:49. Full text on the recording page.
Cite this segment
Stable id, transcript version and tier are part of the citation. Every change to a transcript is logged.Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment 2019-11-03-S02, auto-transcribed, may contain errors. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/trr4o2jzizc/s/2/ (accessed 1 November 2026)
- APA 7
Mufti Abu Layth. (2019, November 3). Is it a sin for a Muslim woman not to cover her hair? [Video, segment 2019-11-03-S02, auto-transcribed, may contain errors]. Mufti Abu Layth Archive. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://muftiabulayth.org/r/trr4o2jzizc/s/2/
- Chicago author-date
Mufti Abu Layth. 2019. "Is it a sin for a Muslim woman not to cover her hair?" Video, segment 2019-11-03-S02, auto-transcribed, may contain errors. Mufti Abu Layth Archive. Recorded November 3, 2019. Accessed November 1, 2026. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/trr4o2jzizc/s/2/
- BibTeX
@misc{abulayth-2019-11-03-S02, author = {Mufti Abu Layth}, title = {{Is it a sin for a Muslim woman not to cover her hair?}}, year = {2019}, month = {11}, date = {2019-11-03}, howpublished = {\url{https://muftiabulayth.org/r/trr4o2jzizc/s/2/}}, url = {https://muftiabulayth.org/r/trr4o2jzizc/s/2/}, organization = {Mufti Abu Layth Archive}, urldate = {2026-11-01}, note = {Segment 2019-11-03-S02, auto-transcribed, may contain errors} }
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