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Bismillahi Al-Rahmani Al-Rahim
Women: Covering Underneath The Chin Q Assalamu alaykum. In the hanbali school does it say women have to cover their chins like in the shafi'i and hanafi schools? A wa `alaykum al-salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu What the books say concerning a mature, free woman during prayer is that there is agreement that her entire body must be covered with the exception of her face. There is disagreement whether or not her hands must be covered; the opinion used for rulings [mufta bihi ] being that they must be covered. Her feet must also be covered; the only opinion that I found differing with this is attributed to Ibn Taymiyyah. Now, what is meant by "the face" during prayer [salah] is the same as what is meant by "the face" when making ablution [wudu]. The neck and underside of the jaw are not part of the face when making ablution, and so they are not part of the "face" during prayer and thus must be covered. While the face in general is not necessary to cover, it is inevitable that part of it will need to be covered in order to cover the surrounding areas. According to the sisters that I asked: there is no hardship whatsoever in covering the neck and the underside of the jaw using the same simple piece of cloth used for a standard hijab. And going against the current fashion rage is not a hardship recognized by the Shari`a. We should all be thankful of the great bounty that Allah Most High has showered upon us by using them as a means to gaining His pleasure. And Allah knows best. wa al-salamu `alaykum --musa |