Question
What is the ruling on a woman choosing to cover her face and hands if she feels there is fitnah, but her family – particularly her mother – is refusing? What should she do?
Answer
Shaykh al-Albaani:
“If the refusal is restricted to her face and hands, it is obligatory to obey the parents. But if the refusal includes more than that, then ‘there is no obedience to the creation in disobedience to the Creator’ [Saheeh al-Jaami’#7520]. I.e. it is obligatory upon a woman to cover all of her body except the face and hands, as covering them is not obligatory but mustahabb (recommended). So if the parents are not pleased with their daughter covering her face and hands, there is nothing to prevent her from obeying them nor is there any sin in that – as opposed to if they wanted her to uncover other than her face and hands, then it is not upon her to obey them because that (i.e. uncovering other than the face and hands) is a sin.”
