❖ Source:
This ruling is taken from the book “500 Questions & Answers for Women”, a compilation of the Fatwas of the Scholars of the Ḥaramayn, translated by Ḥāfiẓ ʿAbdullāh Salīm.
✿ Question:
Is it permissible for an elderly woman, aged seventy or ninety, to uncover her face before non-maḥram male relatives?
✿ Answer:
Allah the Exalted states:
﴿وَالْقَوَاعِدُ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ اللَّاتِي لَا يَرْجُونَ نِكَاحًا فَلَيْسَ عَلَيْهِنَّ جُنَاحٌ أَنْ يَضَعْنَ ثِيَابَهُنَّ غَيْرَ مُتَبَرِّجَاتٍ بِزِينَةٍ وَأَنْ يَسْتَعْفِفْنَ خَيْرٌ لَهُنَّ وَاللَّـهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ﴾
[An-Nūr: 60]
"And those women who are past childbearing age, who have no hope of marriage — there is no sin upon them if they remove their [outer] garments, provided they do not display adornment. But to modestly refrain is better for them. And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing."
The term “al-qawāʿid” refers to elderly women who no longer hope for marriage and do not display their adornment. Such women are permitted to uncover their faces before non-maḥram male relatives, as long as they do not display beauty.
However, maintaining hijab is better and more cautious, as Allah said:
﴿وَأَنْ يَسْتَعْفِفْنَ خَيْرٌ لَهُنَّ﴾
[An-Nūr: 60]
"And to modestly refrain is better for them."
Moreover, some elderly women may still possess natural beauty that can be a source of temptation (fitnah), even if they do not display adornment. In such cases, it is not permissible for them to abandon the hijab. This includes actions that enhance appearance such as applying kohl, beautifying oneself, or any means of enhancing attractiveness.
[Former Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Shaykh Ibn Bāz رحمه الله]