RE : STATUS OF NIQAB and the hadeeth about Asmaa bint Abi Bakr r.a

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Question

 

Mufti Sahib, in addition to your response to Sheikh Tantawi's fatwa, would you kindly respond to the following claim made by some using a Hadith?

 

The claim is that covering face is not fard and they site the following Hadith:

 

Abu Dawood narrates that Aishah (raa) said: " Asma'a the daughter of Abu Bakr (raa) came to see the Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) wearing a thin dress; so Allah's Messenger (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) turned away from her and said: "O Asma'a, once a woman reaches the age of puberty, no part of her body should be seen but this -and he pointed to his face and hands."

 

Please explain the above-mentioned Hadith and respond to the claim, clearing the doubts as soon as possible

 

Answer

 

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatuh

 

Many great scholars have deemed the narration in question as weak. Allāmah Zayla’i (May Allah Ta'ala have mercy on him) mentioned,

 

هذا مرسل، خالد بن دريك لم يدرك عائشة، قال ابن القطان: ومع هذا فخالد مجهول الحال، قال المنذري: وفيه أيضا سعيد بن بشير أبو عبد الرحمن البصري نزيل دمشق مولى بني نضر، تكلم فيه غير واحد، وقال ابن عدي في الكامل: هذا حديث لا أعلم رواه عن قتادة غير سعيد بن بشير، وقال فيه مرة: عن خالد بن دريك عن أم سلمة، بدل: عائشة، انتهى كلامه. )نصب الراية لأحاديث الهداية مع حاشيته بغية الألمعي في تخريج الزيلعي - (1 / 299 مؤسسة الريان(

 

“This narration is mursal. Khālid bin Duraik did not meet Ayesha (May Allah Ta'ala be pleased with her). Furthermore, Khālid is majhūl al-hāl. (Moreover) Mundhiri mentioned, ‘In the chain of transmition is Sa’īd bin Bashīr-a resident of Damascus and a mawlā of Bani Nadhr. Many scholars criticised him. Ibn ‘Adi mentions in al-Kāmil, ‘I do not know of any person who narrated this hadīth from Qatādah besides Sa’īd bin Bashīr. He once (made a mistake) and said that it is from Khālid who narrates it from Umm Salamah, instead of Ayesha.”

 

Furthemore, Qatādah is a mudallis and he narrates this narration with ‘an.

 

These are a few reasons why our illustrious Fuqahā did not cite this narration as proof.

وفي سنده سعيد بن بشير الأزدي ويقال: البصري أيضا، لأن أصله من البصرة وثقه بعض علماء الحديث، وضعفه أحمد وابن معين وابن المديني والنسائي والحاكم أبو أحمد وأبو داود وقال محمد بن عبد الله بن نمير منكر الحديث ليس بشيء ليس بقوي الحديث يروي عن قتادة المنكرات، وقال ابن حبان كان رديء الحفظ فاحش الغلط يروي عن قتادة ما لا يتابع عليه، وقال الساجي حدث عن قتادة بمناكير، وقد روى هذا الحديث عن قتادة ثم إن قتادة مدلس، وقد روى هذا الحديث عن خالد بن دريك بـ: عن، وفيه الوليد وهو ابن مسلم وكان يدلس تدليس التسوية، وكان رفاعا. وبذلك يتضح ضعف هذا الحديث من وجوه.

 

And Allah knows best

Wassalaamu `alaykum

Ml. Ismail Moosa
Ml. Ishaq E. Moosa,
Student Darul Iftaa

Checked and Approved by:

Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Darul Iftaa, Madrassah In'aamiyyah

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