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Is a maid obligated to cover her entire face, or not?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

This statement is incorrect. The servant might not be required to wear a hijab in her family's home due to the presence of her mahrams (unmarriageable kin), or she might choose not to wear it without a valid religious justification. However, this does not exempt her from religious obligations, nor does it negate the denunciation of her unveiling. The hijab is a religious obligation for women, and abandoning it is an act of disobedience. Allah Almighty says: "and let them cast their headcovers over their bosoms" (Quran 24:31). Scholars have differed regarding what parts of an unrelated woman's body may be looked at. The most authoritative view is that the face and hands are awrah (parts of the body that must be covered) and may not be looked at. As for the hair and other parts of the body, no one has claimed that it is permissible to look at them.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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