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What is the ruling of Islamic law regarding a husband who forces his wife to wear the hijab, and is he permitted to divorce her if she is not wearing the hijab or is currently unwilling to do so?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The hijab is an obligation upon the Muslim woman, and abandoning it is a grave sin. The husband must command his wife to wear the hijab, as this falls under his guardianship and responsibility. Allah Almighty says: "O you who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire." And the wife must obey her husband in this regard. Divorce is permissible if the woman neglects one of her obligatory duties towards Allah and the husband cannot compel her to fulfill it. The legal hijab is covering the entire body except for the face and hands. The uncovering of the face is a matter of scholarly disagreement, and the safer approach in this era is to cover it.

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

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