What is the ruling on hijab in Islam, particularly with regard to a woman covering her head hair after reaching adulthood?

Hijab, which includes covering the hair, is legally obligatory for every woman who has reached the age of legal responsibility. This ruling is established by the texts of the primary sources of revelation—the Quran and Sunnah—as well as by the consensus of Muslim scholars, past and present, from the time of Prophethood until today. No disagreement has ever been established regarding this ruling.

 

Hijab is obligatory upon Muslim women

It is established in Islamic law, by the consensus of the scholars of the Ummah, including its mujtahids, jurists, and hadith scholars, that the hijab of is obligatory once a female reaches the age of legal accountability. This is the age when a female first experiences menstruation and attains womanhood, at which time she is required to cover her body and hair, except for her face and hands.

Some scholars have permitted women to leave their feet uncovered, while others have also allowed exposing areas that need to be visible out of necessity, such as the wrists—where bracelets are worn—or parts of the forearms that may show during daily activities. As for the obligation to cover the rest of the body, no Muslim scholar—past or present—has disputed it, as it is clearly stated in the explicit texts of the Quran and Sunnah and established by the consensus of the Muslim Ummah. This has likewise been the practice of Muslims since the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).

 

Evidence for the obligation of hijab

The Quran

Allah Almighty says, “O Prophet! Tell your wives, your daughters, and the women of the believers to draw their outer garments over themselves. That is more suitable so that they may be recognized and not harmed”
(Quran, 33:59).

The occasion of the revelation of this verse was that women during the Prophet's time would leave their hair, necks, and upper chests uncovered. Allah therefore commanded them to cover those areas to prevent immoral individuals from taking advantage of their modesty. The verse also emphasizes that the ruling applies to all believing women, as indicated by the words, “and the women of the believers.”[1]

Allah Almighty also says, “And tell the believing women to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except that which [necessarily] appears thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their headcovers [khummur] over their chests [juyub] and not expose their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, their brothers' sons, their sisters' sons, their women, that which their right hands possess, or those male attendants having no physical desire, or children who are not yet aware of the private aspects of women. And let them not stamp their feet to make known what they conceal of their adornment. And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed” (Quran, 24:31). In this verse, Allah commands believing women to draw their head coverings, khumur, over their chest.

In the Arabic language, khumur, the plural of khimar, refers to coverings worm over a woman’s hair,[2] while the word juyub, in the context of a garment, refers to the opening or neckline of a shirt.[3] Therefore, the expression ‘drawing the khummur over the juyub’ clearly indicates covering the hair, neck, and chest. At the same time, the wording suggests that the face itself should remain uncovered, since the injunction is to draw the covering over the chest rather than the face.

 

The Sunnah

 ‘Aisha, the Mother of the Believers, narrated that Asma` bint Abu Bakr once approached the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) while wearing a thin garment. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) turned away and told her, “O Asma`, when a female attains menarche, it is not proper for her to show anything but this and this,” and he pointed to his face and hands (recorded by Abu Dawud and the wording is his; and by imams al-Tabarani in Musnad al-Shamiyyin; ibn ʿAdiy in Al-Kamil; and al-Bayhaqi in Al-Sunan al-Kubrah, Al-Adab, and Shu’ab al-Iman).

In another hadith, Mohammad ibn Usama ibn Zayd narrated that his father said, “The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) clothed me with a thick Egyptian garment that had been gifted to him by Dihya al-Kalbi. I then gave it to my wife to wear. [When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) learnt of this] he said, “Tell her to wear a lining underneath it, for I fear that it may define the contours of her body” (recorded by Imam Ahmad).

Accordingly, the obligation of hijab—which should cover the entire woman’s body except for her face, hands, feet, and a portion of her forearms—is among the definitive matters over which Muslims have reached consensus across the centuries, despite differences in their legal schools and intellectual orientations. Any claim permitting the exposure of other parts of the body without necessity is contrary to the consensus of the Muslim Ummah.

And Allah Almighty knows best.