Fear and obey Allaah as much as you are able

Question: I am a young girl in a very perplexing situation. I live with my family that has some very strange, distorted ideas. I used to wear hijaab. I found great opposition and ridicule from my family. It reached the point that they physically beat me and prevented me from leaving my house. They forced me to take off the hijaab and simply wear a long cloak but with my face uncovered. What should I do? Should I leave the house although untrustworthy people are many?

Response: This question involves two basic issues. The family that did such an evil to this young lady have to be one of two cases: either they are ignorant of the truth or they are arrogantly refusing to follow the truth. This is very vicious and unruly behaviour. They have no right to behave this way. hijaab is not something improper or ill-mannered. Humans are free within the limits of the Sharee'ah. If they did not know that hijaab is obligatory upon the woman, they must be taught that. They must be taught that it is obligatory according to the Qur.aan and sunnah. However, if they were knowledgeable but simply arrogantly refused to submit, then the crime is even greater. As a poet once said, "If you were unaware, it is a great misfortune. But if you were aware, then the misfortune is even greater."

The second issue is with respect to this young lady. We say to her that it is obligatory upon her to obey and fear Allaah as much as she is able to. If she is able to wear hijaab without her family noticing that, she should do so. However, if they beat her or force her to take it off, there is no sin upon her. Allaah has said, {Whoever disbelieved in Allaah after his belief, except him who is forced thereto and whose heart is at rest with Faith-but such as open their breasts to disbelief, on them is Wrath from Allaah and theirs will be a great torment}, [Soorah al-Nahl, Aayah 106]. Another verse states, {There is no sin for you if you make a mistake therein, except in regard to what your hearts deliberately intended. And Allaah is Ever Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful}, [Soorah al-Ahzaab, Aayah 5]. But fear and obey Allaah to the best of your ability. If your family does not understand the wisdom behind the obligation of hijaab, say to them: It is obligatory upon the believer to submit to any order from Allaah and His Messenger, regardless if they do or don't understand the wisdom behind it. This is because the act of submission itself is an act of wisdom. Allaah says, {It is not for a believer, man or woman, when Allaah and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any option in their decision. And whosoever disobeys Allaah and His Messenger, he has indeed strayed in a plain error}, [al-Ahzaab 36]. When 'Aa.ishah was asked about the situation of the menstruating woman, why she makes up her fasts but not her prayers, she answered, "That happened to us during the time of the Messenger of Allaah (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam) and we were ordered to make up our fasts and we were not ordered to make up our prayers." Hence, she equated the order as being the wisdom in itself. Even given that, the wisdom behind the hijaab is very clear as a woman displaying her beauty is a source of temptation. When temptation occurs, sin and lewdness occur. If sin and lewdness spread, that means that destruction and ruin are on the way.

Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen
Fataawa al-Mar.ah