(Series of Answers by the Scholar Ata bin Khalil Abu al-Rashtah, Ameer of Hizb ut Tahrir, to Questions from Visitors to his Facebook Page)
To: Talal Fawzi - Bulughak Marami - Mosa Za
Similar Questions:
1- Talal Fawzi: Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh... Our Sheikh and our Ameer, may Allah honor you, protect you, care for you, and support you with His victory to honor this Deen, Ameen.
Dear Sheikh, I would like to clarify what a woman is allowed to appear in before non-mahram male relatives in private life... for example, her non-mahram relatives like cousins (paternal and maternal) and her husband's brothers...
Is it permissible for her to appear before them in pants and a blouse, for example?
May you be rewarded with goodness, and may Allah grant the decisive victory for this Ummah at your hands by establishing the Khilafah upon the method of Prophethood.
2- Bulughak Marami: Is a wig or artificial hair not considered part of the hair extensions prohibited in the Hadith of (the one who joins hair and the one who seeks it)? May you be rewarded with goodness.
3- Mosa Za: Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
My noble brother - there is a phenomenon common among us which is wearing a jilbab over pants that only reaches the knees; is this permissible?
The Answer:
Walaikum Assalam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh
Since your questions cover similar topics, I will summarize the answer to them together:
1- In her private life, a woman lives with her husband and her mahrams. As for non-mahram relatives, such as maternal or paternal cousins, when they come to the homes to maintain the ties of kinship (silat al-rahim), or to offer Eid greetings and the like... it is not permissible for women to appear before them inside their homes unless they are covering their 'awrah and not practicing tabarruj (displaying charms). Wearing pants is considered tabarruj; therefore, it is not permissible to appear in pants before non-mahram relatives when they visit for kinship ties or Eid greetings.
2- If a woman leaves the house into public life, she must wear the Shari’ah-compliant dress which fulfills three conditions: covering the 'awrah, the absence of tabarruj, and wearing the jilbab and the khimar.
3- The jilbab is a wide, covering garment that hides the inner clothes and is draped down 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 bring down over themselves [part] of their outer garments." (Surah Al-Ahzab [33]: 59)
*This means they should drape down over themselves the garments they wear over their clothes to go out, such as a cloak or a wrap, draping it down to the bottom. Therefore, it is required for the jilbab to be draped down to the bottom until it covers the feet. This is because Allah says in the verse: "bring down (yudnina) over themselves [part] of their jalabib," meaning they drape their jalabib down, because the word "min" (from/of) here is not partitive (to mean "some of") but is for clarification—meaning they drape the cloak or wrap down to the bottom to cover the feet. Even if the feet are covered by socks or shoes, this does not exempt her from draping it down in a manner that indicates the presence of draping (irkha'). It is not strictly necessary for it to cover the actual feet if they are already covered, but it must reach the feet so that there is draping; i.e., the jilbab must be hanging down in a visible manner by which it is recognized as the garment of public life that a woman must wear in the public sphere, fulfilling the command of "yudnina" (to drape down).*
Accordingly, a woman wearing pants in public life with a long coat over them that only reaches her knees—even if her feet are covered by socks—does not fit the Shari’ah meaning of the jilbab. It is not permissible for a woman to go out into public life except in a jilbab that covers her inner clothes and is draped down to her feet. If she does not have 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: "The Messenger of Allah (saw) commanded us to bring them out on Fitr and Adha: the adolescent girls, the menstruating women, and the secluded virgins. As for the menstruating women, they would stay away from the prayer but witness the goodness and the dawah of the Muslims. I said: 'O Messenger of Allah, one of us might not have a jilbab.' He said: 'Let her sister cover her with some of her jilbab.'"
4- Wearing a wig is a form of tabarruj. Therefore, it is not permissible for a woman to go out into public life wearing a wig unless the khimar covers it and leaves no trace of it to the onlooker. Likewise, it is not permissible for her to wear it in her home before her non-mahram relatives because it is tabarruj, as mentioned above.
As for whether the wig falls under the meaning of the one who joins hair (al-wasilah) and the one who seeks it (al-mustawsilah), the matter is not so. This is because al-wasilah is the one who joins her hair with other hair to make her hair appear longer; it is not about wearing a wig over her hair. Rather, it is tying other hair to her own hair so it appears long. This is haram regardless of where the woman is, even in her home, based on the Hadith narrated by 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 it to be joined." (Sahih Bukhari)
As for the wig, it is permissible to wear it at home before the husband and mahrams only. As for appearing in it before non-mahrams, it is not permissible because wearing it is a form of tabarruj.
Your brother, Ata bin Khalil Abu al-Rashtah
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