Beneficial Advice Regarding Face Covering at Women-Only Gatherings

Question: وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته We kindly request your advice regarding women's gatherings here in Britain. Some of the sisters who attend these gatherings prefer to keep their niqāb on, despite the fact that the venue is designated exclusively for women and there is no legitimate Islamic need for covering the face. When asked about the reason, they respond that it is part of their customs. What is your advice regarding this matter? And do we have the right to request all attending sisters to remove their face coverings during the gathering? Sheikh Yūsuf Al-Jazaa’iri hafidahullāh: وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته In response to this question, it is said: The Sunnah upon which the righteous predecessors (may Allāh be pleased with them) from among the female Companions and those who followed them from the righteous women of the Salaf—may Allāh be pleased with them all—were upon, is that a woman, if she is in the presence of her maḥārim or in the presence of her sisters from among the women, whether inside prayer, or a gathering of remembrance, or otherwise, the Sunnah is for her to uncover her face. As for a woman persistently covering her face while being in the presence of her maḥārim or her fellow Muslim women, when there is no reason to suspect anything inappropriate or no legitimate Islamic reason for covering the face—such as if she fears the presence of men looking at the women, or fears the presence of cameras, and the like—then in such cases, if she strongly suspects, or if there is strong doubt supported by evidence or signs, then she should indeed cover her face. However, the questioner mentions that these gatherings are exclusive to women, i.e., Muslim women, whether they are gatherings of remembrance, religious lectures, or otherwise, and this appears to be the intent of the question. If the setting is for women only—such as for lessons, sermons, or designated women's areas—and there is safety from the possibility of anyone observing them, then the Sunnah is to uncover the face. As for covering the face in the absence of suspicion, and the absence of any indications that strengthen suspicion, then this is considered tanattu‘ (excessiveness/extremism in religion). Covering the face and being persistent in doing so, in such a context, is considered tanattu‘. It may occur once or twice, but consistently doing so is considered tanattu‘. This is the position issued in fatwā by the eminent scholar Shaykh Ibn ʿUthaymīn (may Allāh have mercy on him) when asked about a woman who covers her face during prayer while in the presence of her sisters from among the women. He said: This is from tanattu‘, i.e., persistently doing so is from tanattu‘. And there are evidences from the Qur’an and Sunnah prohibiting excessiveness in the religion. Allah, the Exalted, says in His Noble Book: {O People of the Book, do not go to extremes in your religion}. and He says: {Say, [O Muhammad], “I do not ask you for any reward for it, nor am I of the pretentious.”} And in the Sunnah, it is narrated in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim from the ḥadīth of Ibn Masʿūd (may Allāh be pleased with him), that the Prophet ﷺ said: “The extremists are destroyed, the extremists are destroyed”—he said it three times. The point of relevance here is that the advice to our sisters in Britain who insist on covering their faces in gatherings for remembrance and similar settings among women—while there is, as per the question, no cause for suspicion or any legitimate reason to cover the face—is that they should not persist in covering the face, and instead follow the Sunnah of the female Companions, the practice of the righteous predecessors (may Allah be pleased with them), and what the female Companions and other righteous women were upon.