Is it permissible for a woman who wears the niqab, and who is unable to cover her head completely due to her eyesight and a feeling of breathlessness, to wear a medical or cloth face mask that covers only the nose and mouth, along with covering her hair, in order to perform Umrah?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
A female pilgrim in the state of is prohibited from covering her face with a niqab or anything similar, such as medical masks, unless there is a necessity. In such a case, she must offer a (expiation), because masks cover a part of the face, and jurists have explicitly forbidden this. If the questioner is compelled to cover her face from men, then she should let something hang over her face from above her head, or she may wear the masks out of necessity and remove them afterwards, and the fidyah becomes obligatory upon her.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/132468
Where this answer came from
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 132468
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy