Quora Answer: How Do You Identify a Woman Wearing a Niqab or Burqa?

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “How do you identify a woman wearing a niqab or a burqa?  Is it acceptable to ask them to remove their face covering?” 

In shari’ah, when the identity of a person needs to be established, she has to remove the niqab.  This may be in court, for the purposes of signing legal documents, or in any condition where she has to be positively identified.  The niqab, the covering of the face, is not found in the Qur’an, and is a cultural affection, or a specific interpretation of certain fatawa, legal opinions.  That is why, even during the haj, the pilgrimage, the dress of female pilgrims precludes the wearing of the niqab.  If it were truly a requirement, the niqab would be allowed.



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