Is it permissible for a female student to wear the niqab and enroll in postgraduate studies (PhD), despite the Minister of Education prohibiting the niqab in educational institutions, and her fear that this might affect her academic future and her ambition to become a doctor?

The covering of a woman's face from non-mahram men is a matter of scholarly disagreement between obligation (wujub) and recommendation (istihbab). The fatwa (religious edict) adopted by us is that it is obligatory (wajib), and this is the original principle that should be acted upon. However, in cases of severe necessity, where failing to do so would result in missing registration, there is no harm in taking the concession and acting upon the opinion that it is not obligatory, provided that one avoids applying adornment to the face and limits it to the extent of the necessity.