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Is it permissible to remove the niqab due to shortness of breath resulting from severe anemia?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

A woman must cover her entire body in front of non-mahram men, including her face and hands, according to the preponderant opinion. If covering the face causes harm or hardship, then there is no blame upon her for uncovering it in front of non-mahram men to the extent of the need, due to the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "There should be neither harm nor causing harm," and based on the rules "Harm is to be removed" and "Hardship brings ease," and Allah's (the Most High) saying: {And He has not placed upon you in the religion any difficulty}.

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

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