Kashf al-Ghumma an Adillat al-Hijab fi al-Kitab wa al-Sunna
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- Kashf al-Ghumma an Adillat al-Hijab fi al-Kitab wa al-Sunna
Kashf al-Ghumma ‘an Adillat al-Hijab fi al-Kitab wa al-Sunna (كشف الغمة عن أدلة الحجاب في الكتاب والسنة بمناقشة رأي الشيخ الألباني وجلاء الحق للأمة, Lifting the Grief Regarding the Evidences of the Veil in the Book and the Sunna by Discussing the Opinion of Shaykh al-Albani and Clarifying the Truth for the Ummah) is a contemporary treatise on Islamic jurisprudence and Quranic exegesis by the Saudi author Amal Al Khumaysa (Amal bint Muhammad ibn Abd Allah Al Khumaysa) . The book defends the obligation of free Muslim women covering their faces in front of unrelated men, offering a point-by-point critique of the position permitting uncovering the face advanced by the hadith scholar Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani .
Background and Review
The author developed the work as an outgrowth of her earlier book, Waqafat Musaraḥa lil-Mar’a al-Saliha ("Frank Reflections for the Righteous Woman"), which examined women's clothing and adornment before other women and mahrams . That inquiry prompted her to research the disagreements among later scholars concerning the covering of the face before unrelated men (al-rijal al-ajanib), especially the debates generated across Muslim communities by al-Albani's books Jilbab al-Mar’a al-Muslima and al-Radd al-Mufhim . The book was reviewed by Saad ibn Turki al-Khathlan, a former member of the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars and president of the Saudi Fiqh Association .
Core Arguments and Structure
The book is structured around a thematic critique of the research presented in al-Albani's al-Radd al-Mufhim, organizing its arguments around several primary theses:
- Exegesis of Surah al-Ahzab (Verse 59): The author argues that the command in يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُلْ لِأَزْوَاجِكَ وَبَنَاتِكَ وَنِسَاءِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ جَلَابِيبِهِنَّ ("O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close over them") obligates free women to cover their faces, citing the interpretation of Abdullah ibn Abbas and the Successor Ubayda al-Salmani, alongside the consensus of over forty classical Quranic commentaries . She contends that al-Albani erred in restricting the linguistic meaning of idna' (lowering) to exclude face-covering .
- Clarification of Ibn Abbas's Narrations: The work posits that Ibn Abbas's statement regarding drawing the garment over the face without fastening it describes the manner of covering for a woman in the state of ritual consecration (ihram) during pilgrimage, where tight-fitting face veils (niqab) are prohibited while shielding the face from unrelated men remains required .
- The Verse of Hijab (Verse 53): The author asserts that فَاسْأَلُوهُنَّ مِنْ وَرَاءِ حِجَابٍ ("And when you ask [his wives] for something, ask them from behind a partition") was understood by classical exegetes to mandate covering the face and barring free unrelated men from intermingling with women .
- Distinction Between Free Women and Bondservants: The treatise argues that a primary source of confusion among later scholars, including al-Albani, was the cessation of slavery and the consequent neglect of its distinct legal rulings . According to the author, classical jurists distinguished between free women (hara'ir), for whom face covering was obligatory, and enslaved women (ima'), who were not obligated to cover their faces, leading later writers to erroneously apply reports concerning bondservants to free women .
- Prayer Versus Public Modesty: The book differentiates between the nakedness (awrah) required to be covered during ritual prayer (salat) and that governing sight (nazar) before non-mahrams, arguing that classical statements by Abu Hanifa, Malik ibn Anas, and al-Shafi'i permitting uncovering the face applied solely to prayer .
- Historical Analysis of Uncovering: The author maintains that free Muslim women consistently covered their faces across Muslim lands until uncovering (sufur) emerged in the late 13th and early 14th centuries AH under the impact of European colonialism and subsequent modern reform movements .
Abridgment
Amal Al Khumaysa authored an abridgment of the work titled Mukhtasar Kashf al-Ghumma ‘an Adillat al-Hijab fi al-Kitab wa al-Sunna bi-Munaqashat Ra'y al-Shaykh al-Albani wa-Jala' al-Haqq lil-Umma . The condensed edition was deposited in the King Fahd National Library in 1442 AH / 2020 CE, maintaining the essential arguments and points of critique from the unabridged source .
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