Abandoning Hijab while relying on other good deeds
Fatwa No: 139072

Question

I am a 17-year-old girl. I do not wear the Hijab. Having known the scholars' opinion in this regard, I realized that wearing the Hijab is an obligation. Nevertheless, I am not internally convinced that it is an obligation, as I heard some people saying that the Hijab-related Quranic verses were revealed to address a certain incident that occurred during the lifetime of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, when some men acted indecently toward some of the virtuous Muslim women. I know that our good deeds will be weighed against our evil deeds on the Day of Resurrection and that entering Paradise or Hell depends on this weighing of deeds. Taking in consideration that I recite the Quran, perform prayers, fast, and even perform the night voluntary prayer, what will be my fate in case I do not wear the Hijab? Will my good deeds compensate my negligence of it? Is it correct to do a misdeed and then compensate it by doing a good deed?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

Wearing the Hijab is an obligation imposed by Allah, the Lord of the worlds, on women. This is indicated by authentic and decisive explicit Islamic texts. We have already refuted the false allegation that the Hijab-related Quranic verses are specific to a certain incident and that they are not applicable to other Muslim women.

Taking the matter of committing so much sins lightly while relying on the claim that one can expiate for them by doing good deeds after them is in fact a devilish hoax. Furthermore, abandoning some religious obligations while sufficing oneself with some other obligations is impermissible. Allah says (what means): {O you who have believed, enter into Islam completely [and perfectly] and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy.} [Quran 2: 208]

Commenting on the verse, Ibn Katheer said:

Allah, the Exalted, commands His servants who believe in Him and have faith in His Messenger to implement all the fundamentals and legislations of Islam and adhere to all of its commandments and to refrain from all of its prohibitions as much as they can.

Al-Aloosi said, "Allah commands the Muslims, who believe in Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, to implement all of the branches of faith and never breach any of its rulings."

As-Sa‘di as he commented on the same verse, said:

This is a command from Allah Almighty to the believers to enter into Islam completely by observing all of its legislations and never abandoning anything thereof. They should not be like those who take their inclinations as their god and would obey only such commands when that conforms to their inclination and otherwise would not do so. Rather, one's inclination must conform to religion. On the other hand, one is required to do as much as he can of the righteous deeds. As for other righteous deeds which he cannot do, he has to resolve upon doing them so he gets their reward by mere intention. 

Allah knows best.

Related Fatwa