❖ Source:
This fatwa is derived from the book “500 Questions & Answers for Women”, based on the verdicts of the Scholars of the Ḥaramayn, translated by Ḥāfiẓ ʿAbdullāh Salīm.
✿ Question:
What is the Shar‘i ruling on a person who mocks a woman for observing the proper Islamic veil?
✿ Answer:
Whoever mocks a Muslim woman or man for adhering to the rules of Shari‘ah, is deemed a disbeliever (kāfir). This applies regardless of whether the mockery is due to a woman observing Islamic veil (ḥijāb) or for any other religious obligation.
A narration from ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما recounts an incident during the Battle of Tabūk, where a man in a gathering said:
"I have never seen anyone more gluttonous, more untruthful, or more cowardly in battle than these reciters (i.e. the Qur’an reciters)."
One of the attendees confronted him, saying:
"You lie! You are a hypocrite. I will certainly inform the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."
When this reached the Prophet ﷺ, revelation descended from the heavens. Ibn ʿUmar states:
"I saw that man clinging to the camel saddle of the Prophet ﷺ, while stones struck him and he kept pleading: ‘O Messenger of Allah, we were only talking idly and joking.’"
To this, the Prophet ﷺ responded only with these verses:
﴿وَلَئِن سَأَلْتَهُمْ لَيَقُولُنَّ إِنَّمَا كُنَّا نَخُوضُ وَنَلْعَبُ قُلْ أَبِاللَّهِ وَآيَاتِهِ وَرَسُولِهِ كُنتُمْ تَسْتَهْزِئُونَ ﴿٦٥﴾ لَا تَعْتَذِرُوا قَدْ كَفَرْتُم بَعْدَ إِيمَانِكُمْ إِن نَّعْفُ عَن طَائِفَةٍ مِّنكُمْ نُعَذِّبْ طَائِفَةً بِأَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا مُجْرِمِينَ﴾
[9 – At-Tawbah: 65–66]
“And if you ask them, they will surely say, ‘We were only conversing and playing.’ Say, ‘Was it Allah and His verses and His Messenger that you were mocking?’ Make no excuse—you have disbelieved after your belief. If We pardon a group of you, We will punish another group because they were criminals.”
Thus, mocking the believers for their adherence to Islam, such as a woman for wearing proper ḥijāb, is tantamount to mocking Allah, His Messenger ﷺ, and His verses, as stated explicitly in this verse.
و بالله التوفيق
[Dār al-Iftā’ Committee]