Ḥijāb al-Marʾah wa-Libāsuhā fī al-Ṣalāh - Ibn Taimiya - (32)

Muslim women used to perform the prayer in their homes, and the Prophet ﷺ said, “Do not keep the female servants of Allah from the mosques of Allah, yet their houses are better for them.” 1 Along with their qamīs (long shirt) they were only instructed to wear the khimār (head-scarf); they were not told to cover their legs with leather socks or cloth socks, nor their hands with gloves or anything of that sort. This shows that, in the absence of unrelated men, a woman is not required during prayer to cover those parts. It has also been reported, “The angels do not look at hidden adornment; when she removes her khimār and qamīs they do not look at her.” A report of this meaning is likewise narrated from Khadijah. 2

Thus the combination of qamīs and khimār is all that is mandated for the sake of the prayer, just as a man who prays in a loose garment is commanded to wrap it around himself so that it covers his ʿawrah (private parts) and his shoulders. His two shoulders, in his case, stand in the same position as the head does for a woman, for he prays in a qamīs or its equivalent; and while he is in the state of iḥrām he may not wear any tailored garment that conforms to the body, such as a qamīs or a jubba, just as a woman in iḥrām does not wear a face-veil or gloves, and he too leaves his head uncovered.

With regard to the woman’s face, there are two opinions in the school of Aḥmad and others:

It is treated like the man’s head, so it is not covered.

(1) Reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim from Ibn Umar, except for the words “and their houses are better for them,” which appear in a narration transmitted by Abu Dawud and others and cited in Sahih Abi Dawud, nos. 575–576. (2) This is not authentic, as the author, may Allah have mercy on him, indicated by his words: “It was narrated …”

وكن نساء المسلمين يصلين في بيوتهن وقد قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: "لا تمنعوا إماء الله مساجد الله وبيوتهن خير لهن" ١ ولم يؤمرن مع القمص إلا بالخمر لم تؤمر بما يغطي رجليها لا خف ولا جورب ولا بما يغطي يديها لا بقفازين ولا غير ذلك. فدل على أنه لا يجب عليها في الصلاة ستر ذلك إذا لم يكن عندها رجال أجانب وقد روي: "أن الملائكة لا تنظر إلى الزينة الباطنة فإذا وضعت خمارها وقميصها لم ينظر إليها" وروي في ذلك حديث عن خديجة٢ فهذا القدر للقميص والخمار هو المأمور به لحق الصلاة كما يؤمر الرجل إذا صلى في ثوب واسع أن يلتحف به فيغطي عورته ومنكبيه. والمنكبان في حقه كالرأس في حق المرأة لأنه يصلي في قميص أو ما يقوم مقام القميص وهو في الإحرام لا يلبس على بدنه ما يقدر له كالقميص والجبة كما أن المرأة لا تنتقب ولا تلبس القفازين وأما رأسه فلا يخمره. ووجه المرأة فيه قولان في مذهب أحمد وغيره: ١ - قيل: إنه كرأس الرجل فلا يغطى.

١ متفق عليه من حديث ابن عمر دون قوله "وبيوتهن خير لهن" فإنه في رواية لأبي داود وغيره وهو مخرج في "صحيح أبي داود" "٥٧٥ – ٥٧٦". ٢ ولا يصح كما أشار إلى ذلك المؤلف رحمه الله بقوله: "روي ... "