Series of Questions Addressed to Scholar Sheikh Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah,
Ameer of Hizb ut Tahrir through his Fiqhi Facebook Page

Question

Nessrine Boudhafri

Barak Allah in You our Ameer and bring the victory through you, I have a question regarding the answer you gave in which you mentioned: "Therefore it is not permissible to wear the wig in an apparent way in the public life even if she wears a jilbab except if she wears a Khimaar (head scarf) on top of the wig covering it completely so that on-lookers do not notice it." What is understood from this is that a wig can be worn under the Khimaar or inside the house for instance, doesn't the wig take the ruling of Wasl (linking hair extensions to the original hair)?

Bloghak Marami:

Doesn't the wig take the ruling of false hair or the prohibited Wasl in the Hadeeth of (Wasila wa Mustawsila)? Jazakum Allah Khair

Mosa Za:

As-Salaam Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakaatuhu

My dear brother, there is a growing phenomenon where we are, which is wearing of the jilbab that reaches the knees over trousers, is this allowed?

Answer

Wa Alaikum us Salaam Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakaatuhu

Your questions are of similar subject; thus I will summarize the answer for all of them:

A- It is forbidden for a woman to go out in public life except in the Shar'i dress which must meet the following: cover the Awra, constitute a khimaar and jilbab, and must not show her beauty (Tabarruj);

- The Jilbab is a loose and wide garment that conceals the items of clothing underneath and it drapes down to cover the feet. Allah (swt) says:

[يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُلْ لِأَزْوَاجِكَ وَبَنَاتِكَ وَنِسَاءِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ جَلَابِيبِهِنَّ]

"Oh Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (Jalabeeb) all over their bodies." [Al-Ahzaab: 59]

That is to lower the covering (jilbab), which is the sheet or milhafah that they wear over the garments for going out and make it drape down, this is the condition of the jilbab: to drape down to cover the feet, because Allah (swt) says in the verse:

[يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ جَلَابِيبِهِنَّ]

"Let them draw their cloaks (jalabeeb) all over their bodies" [Al-Ahzaab: 59]

It means to lower the clothing, to let the clothing drape down, and the preposition "من" is not used partatively here but only to explain (lil-bayaan) that they should cast it over their persons and to lower the clothing (the sheet or milhafa) to drape down and covers the feet. If the feet were covered with socks or shoes, it does not negate the condition to lower the jilbab in a manner that shows that it is draping down, there is no need to cover the feet since they are covered by the socks or shoes, but the jilbab must be lowered to the feet to show that it is draping down. I.e. the jilbab will be draping down clearly to distinguish that it is the public life dress that the woman is obliged to wear outside, and shows the draping to realize the command of Allah (swt) in the verse: ((يُدْنِينَ)) to lower and drape, which means to drape down to reach the floor if the feet are not covered (with socks or shoes), and if the feet were covered, it is sufficient that the jilbab reaches the feet and not less than that so that the meaning of the word to drape down is realized.

Therefore it is not permissible for the woman to go out in the public life wearing trousers with a long over coat that reaches the knee level and does not drape down to her feet which are covered in socks, this does not match with the Shariah definition of jilbab. It is permissible for a woman to go out in the public life only if she is wearing a jilbab that covers the items of clothing underneath and is draping down to her feet, and if she cannot find a jilbab then she must not go out, or she borrows one from her neighbour, due to the Hadeeth extracted by Muslim in his Sahih, from Umm Atiya, who said:

«أَمَرَنَا رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، أَنْ نُخْرِجَهُنَّ فِي الْفِطْرِ وَالْأَضْحَى، الْعَوَاتِقَ، وَالْحُيَّضَ، وَذَوَاتِ الْخُدُورِ، فَأَمَّا الْحُيَّضُ فَيَعْتَزِلْنَ الصَّلَاةَ، وَيَشْهَدْنَ الْخَيْرَ، وَدَعْوَةَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ»، قُلْتُ: يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ إِحْدَانَا لَا يَكُونُ لَهَا جِلْبَابٌ، قَالَ: «لِتُلْبِسْهَا أُخْتُهَا مِنْ جِلْبَابِهَا»

"We were ordered by the Prophet (saw) to bring out our menstruating women and veiled women in the religious gatherings and invocation of Muslims on the two 'Eid festivals. These menstruating women were to keep away from prayer, witnessing the blessing and call to the Muslims." I asked: ‘Oh Messenger of Allah! What if one of us does not have a jilbaab?' He said, "Let her wear the jilbaab of her sister."

- As for Khimaar it is the cover of the head, it covers the hair, the neck, and the v-neck "Jayb". Allah (swt) says:

[وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَى جُيُوبِهِنَّ]

"And let them draw their head-coverings (khumur) over their necks and v-neck (juyoob)." [An-Nur: 31]

That is khimaar should be worn round the neck and chest, to cover the v-neck (from the neck to the chest) of the shirt or dress.

- As for Tabarruj, it means to display the beauty that brings about attraction; wearing of trousers can cover the awrah but it is from Tabarruj if it is not covered by a jilbab. The wig is from Tabarruj because it attracts attention, therefore it is prohibited to wear the wig in an apparent manner in the public life, even if the jilbab is worn, except when the wig is covered by the headscarf (Khimaar) that will conceal completely and cannot be noticed by people.

And even if the charms (adornments) are concealed, but draw attention they are considered as tabarruj, as Allah (swt) said regarding the noise from the anklet worn on the ankle of the woman under her garment when she stamped feet on the floor, it is considered tabarruj even it is hidden because the noise it produces causes attraction.

[وَلَا يَضْرِبْنَ بِأَرْجُلِهِنَّ لِيُعْلَمَ مَا يُخْفِينَ مِنْ زِينَتِهِنَّ]

"And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their charms." [An- Nur: 31]

B- As for the question if the wig takes the same ruling as hair extensions, the wig is not a hair extension (linking hair with hair). The Wasila and Mustawsila: they make the hair longer by linking false hair to the original so that it looks beautiful and long. In the sources of the language it mentions the meaning of Wasila as in Lisan Al-Arab "...The Wasila from women: is the one who links her hair with another hair" and this is prohibited wherever the woman may be, even if she was in her house, based on the Hadeeth extracted by Bukhari from Abu Huraira (ra):

عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: «لَعَنَ اللَّهُ الوَاصِلَةَ وَالمُسْتَوْصِلَةَ»

"The Prophet (saw) said: "Allah cursed the Wasila (the woman who links hair extension to the hair of another woman) and Mustawsilla (the one who goes to the Wasila to get her to add extensions to her hair)".

As for the wig, it is hair that is worn over the original hair, it is Tabbaruj (showing beauty) which is prohibited for women to wear in the public life, just like the prohibition for women wear trousers in the public life without the jilbab. Tabarruj is known to be prohibited.

Therefore it is permissible for a woman to wear a wig in front of her husband as part of her adornment for him in the private life, but it is prohibited for her to wear it in the public life without wearing a khimar over it, wearing it in the public life is tabarruj and it is prohibited.

Your brother,
Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah

The link to the answer from the Ameer's Facebook page