(Series of answers by the scholar Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah, Ameer of Hizb ut-Tahrir, to questions from his Facebook page followers "Fiqhi")
To: Nessrine Boudhafri - Bulooghuka Marami - Mosa Za
Questions:
Nessrine Boudhafri: May Allah bless you, our Ameer, and grant victory through you... but a question in this context: you said in your answer, "Therefore, it is not permissible to wear a wig visibly in public life, even if a jilbab is worn, unless a khimar is worn over the wig that covers it completely and leaves no trace of it to the onlooker." It is understood from this that it is permissible to wear a wig under the khimar or at home, for example. Furthermore, does the wig not take the same ruling as hair extensions (wasl)?
Bulooghuka Marami: Is the wig or artificial hair not considered part of the hair extensions (wasl) prohibited in the Hadith regarding "the one who joins hair and the one who seeks to have it joined"? May you be rewarded with goodness.
Mosa Za: Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. My dear brother—there is a phenomenon existing among us, which is wearing a jilbab over trousers that reaches only to the knee. Is this permissible?
Answer:
And peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings,
Your questions are related in topic, so I will summarize the answer to them together:
A- It is not permissible for a woman to go out into public life except in the Islamic dress (al-libas al-shar'i) in which three things are fulfilled: covering the awrah, wearing the jilbab and khimar, and the absence of tabarruj (alluring display).
- As for the Jilbab, it is a wide, covering garment that hides the inner clothes and is lowered to cover the feet. Allah (swt) says:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُلْ لِأَزْوَاجِكَ وَبَنَاتِكَ وَنِسَاءِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ جَلَابِيبِهِنَّ
"O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (jalabib) all over their bodies." (Surah Al-Ahzab [33]: 59)
Meaning, they should lower upon themselves their garments that they wear over their clothes for going out, such as a cloak (mila’ah) or a wrap (milhafah), lowering them to the bottom. Therefore, it is a condition for the jilbab to be lowered to the bottom until it covers the feet, because Allah says in the verse: يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ جَلَابِيبِهِنَّ meaning they lower their jalabib because مِنْ here is not for partitive (tab’id) but for clarification (bayan); meaning they lower the cloak and wrap to the bottom until the feet are covered. If the feet are covered by socks or shoes, this does not eliminate the need for lowering it to the bottom in a way that indicates the existence of lowering (irkhā’). It is not necessary for it to cover the feet if they are already covered, but it must reach the feet for there to be a lowering; meaning the jilbab must descend to the bottom in a visible manner, by which it is known as the garment of public life that a woman must wear in public, and the lowering appears in it, fulfilling the saying of Allah: يُدْنِينَ meaning they lower. This means reaching the ground if the feet are bare, and it is sufficient to reach the feet if the feet are covered by shoes and socks, but not less than reaching the feet, so as to fulfill the meaning of the word "lower" (yudnina).
Accordingly, it is not permissible for a woman in public life to go out wearing trousers with a long coat over them reaching only to her knees—meaning it does not reach her feet which are covered by socks—as this does not fit the legal (shar’i) meaning of the jilbab. It is not permissible for a woman to go out into public life except with a jilbab that covers her inner clothes and is lowered down to her feet. If she does not find one, she should not go out or she should borrow a jilbab from her neighbor, according to what Muslim narrated in his Sahih from Umm Atiyyah, who said:
أَمَرَنَا رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، أَنْ نُخْرِجَهُنَّ فِي الْفِطْرِ وَالْأَضْحَى، الْعَوَاتِقَ، وَالْحُيَّضَ، وَذَوَاتِ الْخُدُورِ، فَأَمَّا الْحُيَّضُ فَيَعْتَزِلْنَ الصَّلَاةَ، وَيَشْهَدْنَ الْخَيْرَ، وَدَعْوَةَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ، قُلْتُ: يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ إِحْدَانَا لَا يَكُونُ لَهَا جِلْبَابٌ، قَالَ: لِتُلْبِسْهَا أُخْتُهَا مِنْ جِلْبَابِهَا
"The Messenger of Allah (saw) commanded us to bring them out on Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha: the adolescent girls, the menstruating women, and the secluded women. As for the menstruating women, they were to stay away from the prayer but witness the goodness and the supplication of the Muslims. I said, 'O Messenger of Allah, one of us may not have a jilbab.' He said, 'Let her sister cover her with part of her jilbab.'" (Narrated by Muslim)
- As for the Khimar, it is the head cover that covers the hair, the neck, and the shirt opening (al-jayb). Allah (swt) says:
وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَى جُيُوبِهِنَّ
"And let them wrap their head-covers (khumur) over their chests (juyub)." (Surah An-Nur [24]: 31)
Meaning, let them twist their head covers over their necks and chests to hide what appears from the collar of the shirt and the collar of the garment from the neck and chest.
- As for Tabarruj, it means alluring adornment that attracts attention. Wearing trousers covers the awrah, but it is a form of tabarruj if a jilbab is not over them. The wig is also tabarruj because it attracts attention. Therefore, it is not permissible to wear a wig visibly in public life even if a jilbab is worn, unless a khimar is worn over the wig that covers it completely and leaves no trace of it to the onlooker. This is because adornment, even if covered, is considered tabarruj if it attracts attention, as the Almighty said regarding the prohibition of making the sound of the anklets worn on a woman's leg under her garment known; if she strikes the ground with her foot and the anklet produces a sound that indicates it, it is tabarruj even if it is hidden, because by producing its sound, it became attention-grabbing:
وَلَا يَضْرِبْنَ بِأَرْجُلِهِنَّ لِيُعْلَمَ مَا يُخْفِينَ مِنْ زِينَتِهِنَّ
"And let them not stamp their feet to make known what they conceal of their adornment." (Surah An-Nur [24]: 31)
B- As for whether the wig falls under hair extensions (wasl al-sha’r), this is not the case. A wig is not a hair extension; rather, the woman who joins hair (al-wasila) and the one who seeks to have it joined (al-mustawsila) is the one who lengthens the hair by tying other hair to it so that it appears beautiful and long. It is stated in linguistic sources regarding the meaning of al-wasila: in Lisan al-Arab: "...and al-wasila among women: is the one who joins her hair with the hair of another." This is haram in any place the woman may be, even in her home, based on the Hadith narrated by Al-Bukhari from Abu Hurairah (ra), from the Prophet (saw), who said:
لَعَنَ اللَّهُ الوَاصِلَةَ وَالمُسْتَوْصِلَةَ...
"Allah has cursed the woman who joins (hair) and the woman who asks for (hair) to be joined..." (Narrated by Al-Bukhari)
As for the wig, it is hair worn over the original hair. It is part of tabarruj that is not permissible for a woman to wear in public life, similar to the impermissibility of wearing trousers in public life without a jilbab because it is tabarruj, and tabarruj, as is well known, is haram.
Therefore, it is permissible for a woman to place a wig on her head in front of her husband as a form of adornment for him in her private life, but it is not permissible for her to wear it in public life without a khimar over it that covers it completely. Appearing with it in public life is tabarruj, and that is haram.
Your brother, Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah
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