Hijab Not Obligatory Then Why Wear It In Salah

[Dr. Irfan Shahzad]

Hadith are not independent sources of guidance; they do not introduce anything new into the Shariah. They are indirect reports of the Prophet’s words and actions, not his exact speech. Therefore, their content must align with the established principles and verified facts of the deen.

Covering the body is not a requirement for the validity of prayer itself. A person does not need to be covered in order to stand before God. The purpose of covering is social—it is something we do out of consideration for people, not for God.

From this perspective, the hadith in question can be understood as a caution directed at women who attend the mosque in the presence of men. If a woman comes without a headcover, it may distract the men’s attention, potentially diminishing her own spiritual reward for the prayer.

[Zara]

I don’t understand, what is the context of this hadith? The hadith is saheeh and we know we have to follow saheeh hadith so don’t we have to cover up in Salah because of the hadith? If this hadith translates khimar as head cover, would that not mean that the word khimar is being used in the sense of head cover therefore making hijab obligatory?JazakAllahu Khairan

[Dr. Irfan Shahzad]

Again, the obligations come from the Qur’an and the established Sunnah only. The hadith must align with it.

If you think that hadith can add anything to the corpus of Shariah, then you can follow this hadith as it is.

[Zara]

What does that mean? That this hadith is daif?

[Dr. Irfan Shahzad]

This is not about weak or Sahih hadith. It is about a hadith that adds anything independent to the corpus of Deen or not. To us, it does not and therefore Ahadith needs to be in alignment with the Qruan and the established Sunnah.