Niqab

Salam.

From Anas that the Muhammad said: And if one of the women of Paradise looked at the earth, she would fill the whole space between them the earth and the heaven with light, and would fill whatever is in between them, with perfume, and the veil of her face (niqab) is better than the whole world and whatever is in it."[Sahih al-Bukhari]

What is niqab?

Niqab is a veil used to cover a woman's face.

Or in precise, "a niqāb (Arabic: نِقاب‎ "mask") is a veil which covers the face, worn by some Muslim women as a part of sartorial hijāb. Niqab is most common in the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf such as Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and the UAE. It is also common in Pakistan." (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niq%C4%81b)

It's true that wearing a niqab is not considered as sunnah but there is something special about wearing niqab that most people don't realize until today.

I have a few friends who are wearing niqab. Two of them are my ex-schoolmates and the other one is my classmate (here in IIUM). When the first time I saw my schoolmates wearing niqab, I wondered what was exactly they are wearing the niqab for? But then, I made my own assumptions.

They are wearing niqab because:

- Her mother is wearing niqab too. So, it's like she wants to follow her mother's footsteps wearing niqab also.

- She has a beautiful face which can melt men's heart easily whenever they look at her face. And she wears niqab in order to avoid herself from being tackled by men.

- She wants to keep her face only for her husband.

- It's been a tradition or culture in her country to wear niqab whenever a woman wants to leave the house.

- And so on, so forth.

I had watched a video regarding the specialties of being a woman, in my laptop. Subhanallah, one of the points being discussed in that video including the benefit of wearing niqab (for women).

Women who cover their face from people's sights, will be given the best reward from Allah in the heaven. They will be able to see Allah's face first rather than anyone else. Alhamdulillah.

Actually, there is another reason why a women is encouraged (not compulsary) to wear niqab. It has something to do with men's ability actually, to know more about women's secret. But I'm not going to discuss in here. I'm afraid it might bring to a slander among us. So, why don't you discover yourself?

So, my question is, is it too bad to wear a niqab? Girls, what say you about this issue?

To be frank, there's nothing wrong for a women to wear a niqab. However, there are some conditions that need to be considered first before you decide to wear it.

A women who wants to wear niqab must:

- be strong in whatever situation she might be in to

- be consistent (istiqamah). If you decide to wear niqab, you shall not put it out once you have worn it.

- not wear niqab in order to get attention from everyone.

- have a very specific reason for wanting to wear niqab.

Please don't misunderstand. Wearing niqab is nit a sunnah. But, we must know that every good deeds that we commit, will get rewards from Allah if we commit it for the sake of Him.

As Sheikh Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy, previous dean of Al-Azhar University said, "full-face veiling a custom that has nothing to do with the Islamic faith. “The niqab is a cultural tradition and has nothing to do with Islam.”^[29] The decision came from an incident involving a school girl to remove her niqab during a visit to an Al-Azhar school, when Tantawi reportedly said that he would call for an official ban for the face veil in Islamic schools. Tantawi's decision stem from his views that more younger Muslims have lost touch with traditional Islamic scholarship and have come under the influence of extremist imams who have little or no formal training in Islamic scholarship." (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niq%C4%81b)

Insya Allah.