Removing the Niqaab

Assalaamualaikum
In the school that I teach in, many young muslimahs have donned the niqaab. However, some of them have removed it after a couple of months, whilst others are tempted to remove it. None of them have consulted me prior to removal.
However, I have received a call from a concerned mother whose 15 year old daughter who donned the niqaab less than a year ago- asking for my advice as the girl has indicated to her mother that she would like to remove the niqaab.
The father is very unhappy about this, and the mother fears that the removal of the niqaab will have a detrimental effect on the daughter’s hifz (she has 4 paras left to complete the Qur’an).
What naseehah can Mufti saheb give.
Jazakallah khair

 

 

 

Answer

Assalaamu alaykum

Firstly may Allah Ta'ala reward you for your concern not only for the girl mentioned in your email but also for the other girls in the school. As a teacher you can use the platform you have to highlight to the girls about the importance/beauty and the reward for donning the niqaab. Also it is very important that young girls are also made aware of the responsibility of once they wear the niqaab- for example once they don it they should understand the importance of segregation and not just the wearing of a face covering.

You can use examples of women of the past as well. Now that you have been made aware of the fact that girls are removing the niqaab, you can try to ascertain why this is happening so that you can try to work on the root of the problem.

As regards the mother mentioned in the email, advise her to firstly make dua for her daughter as well as she should try to ascertain why her daughter wants to remove the niqaab. She should try to introduce daily taleem in the home and also in a loving manner explain to her daughter the rewards for wearing the niqaab etc. Also she can try to find someone that her daughter admires and would listen to, to speak to her daughter.

May Allah Ta'ala protect us all and inculcate in us all the love for following every command of the Shariah and keep us steadfast. Ameen

And Allah Ta'ala knows best Was salaam Emraan Vawda