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Fatwa CenterCannot wear the Hijab because of force majeure… a Sharee'ah perspective
Question
My problem is that I live in a country that bans Muslim women from wearing Hijaab. In spite of everything, I wear the Hijaab but I was exposed to many problems, including being arrested and taken to the police station. They addressed me with the most abusive words, but I did not remove my Hijaab. I moved from the institute where I used to study to another one where I knew a girl and Allaah Almighty guided her to (wearing a) Hijaab, but they started to bother her. In fact, I am afraid of being arrested. Yes, I am ready to face torture but I am not ready to lose my honor because of being arrested; I will be raped by the oppressive men of the state. At the same time, I am not ready to remove the Hijaab that is imposed by Allaah Almighty because I feel that I am naked. Please guide me. I have got tired of this and I do not know what to do. I am 18 years old. Please help me.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
We say to this noble sister, "May Allaah Almighty help you with your affliction, amply reward you and guide you to hold firm to the truth."
Concerning your case, the answer is that if you can emigrate from this country to another, then you should do so to flee for your religion, preserve your faith and maintain your chastity and honor. If you cannot do so; then the ruling is detailed as follows:
If wearing a Hijab will cause harm for yourself, your organs, chastity or mind; then it is permissible for you to reveal what protects you from this because dire necessities permit what is originally forbidden. However, this should be done according to certain rules, including that you may only go out of your house when there is a necessity. If there is no necessity, then you should abide at home to avoid the sin of abandoning Hijab. Also among such rules is that you should only reveal what protects you from harm.
However, if wearing a Hijab does not result in a great harm, meaning that you can bear the harm with hardship and grief but that it does not affect your life, chastity, organs or mind, then it is impermissible for you to remove the Hijab. In this case, you should be patient, and you will be rewarded amply as Allaah Almighty says about those who were harmed in His cause (what means): {And their Lord responded to them, "Never will I allow to be lost the work of [any] worker among you, whether male or female; you are of one another. So those who emigrated or were evicted from their homes or were harmed in My cause or fought or were killed—I will surely remove from them their misdeeds, and I will surely admit them to gardens beneath which rivers flow as reward from Allaah, and Allaah has with Him the best reward."} [Quran 3: 195]
Allaah Knows best.
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