Question:
Should women cover their hands up to the wrist? Please provide evidence.
Answer:
There is no compulsion to cover up to the wrist. In fact, there is evidence from the Prophetﷺﷺ’s time that women’s forearms were exposed when necessary.
Some people say that women must cover up to the wrist. Regarding covering the hand, the question is: does it have to be covered up to this point? Those who ask this question include people like Mumeela from Australia. When it comes to covering the hand, we may do so out of personal modesty but making it compulsory to cover up to the wrist is not established. Scholars say that compulsory covering does not extend to the wrist. Some scholars say it must be covered, and there are those who say gloves must be worn and fingers must be covered. One group says it must be covered up to the wrist. We have previously said that it must be covered up to the wrist, but we have no evidence for that claim. They bring evidence about covering beauty and adornment. However, if you search the hadiths, you will find that they did not cover up to that extent. There is much evidence that they did not cover up to the elbow or the arm.
In ordinary times, even if you cover fully, if you feel that others might see your hands because you are wearing jewelry or bangles, then you should cover because adornment is involved. But if the hands are bare, and people say they wear sleeves up to a certain point, women must cover the entire elbow fully. Saying that it should be like that is not wrong, and concluding that would be the correct opinion. What is the evidence for this? Let us look at Bukhari, Hadith 193.
During the time of Prophetﷺ, men and women used to perform wudu together. They would have a large vessel or trough of water. First, the men would perform wudu and leave, then the women would perform wudu and leave. In this way, women could perform wudu without being seen by men. When they performed wudu together, the important thing is that they had to wash the face. The important thing in wudu is washing the hands. Both need to be washed. For that, there cannot be any clothing covering them. They need to be open to wash the hands. So it is recorded that they did not just sit idly; they performed wudu.
There is a hadith in Abu Dawud that men and women performed wudu together during the time of Prophetﷺ. Ibn Umar narrates: “We, men and women, used to perform wudu together during the time of Prophetﷺ from a single vessel.” It was a large vessel. They would dip their hands into it and take water to perform wudu. They would place a vessel like a table, not very large, fill it with water, and both would take water from it. When they did this, the women’s faces and hands would be visible to the men. This was the situation during the time of Prophetﷺﷺ. Men and women performed wudu together. This hadith is in Abu Dawud.
One might argue that this could have happened during Rasulullah’s time without him seeing it. But the hadith in Ibn Hibban refutes this. Ibn Umar says: “I saw the Prophetﷺ (SAW) and his companions performing wudu. Men and women were performing wudu together. Prophetﷺ was standing performing wudu.” So, it did not happen without his knowledge. The people did not do this without the Prophetﷺ’s awareness. Ibn Umar said: “I came and saw Prophetﷺ and his companions performing wudu together, men and women, from a single vessel.” Among those performing wudu from that vessel was Prophetﷺ himself. So, this could not have happened without his knowledge. When Prophetﷺﷺ was present, they performed wudu together.
Even if they took water from a vessel and went to a bathroom to perform wudu, the bathroom would provide cover. But there was no bathroom; it was in an open space. There was a large tank-like vessel filled with water. This is the origin of the large basins we have in mosques today. When they took water and washed their faces and hands, the hands would not be covered. If they had covered up to the wrist, how could water reach? Without removing clothing, water could not reach the skin. Therefore, these hands were not covered. They were exposed. The men could see them, and Prophetﷺﷺ was among them. During this wudu, the hands were visible. If there were a requirement to cover, the Prophetﷺ would have said: “Go separately, use a separate vessel, put up a screen, and cover yourselves.” But instead, men and women performed wudu in an open space, and Prophetﷺﷺ was one of them.
When scholars see all this, what do they say? They provide an explanation. They say that these must have been close relatives (mahram) of the women, that they performed wudu with their wives. But this is a forced explanation. If it was with their own wives, then only that man would see his wife. But when we are talking about a large gathering, everyone would see everyone else’s wives. This explanation does not hold.
Furthermore, there is another hadith. Umm Sabiyyah from the Juhainah tribe narrates: “I and Prophetﷺﷺ took water from a single vessel and performed wudu.” Who is Umm Sabiyyah? She is from the tribe of Juhainah. She is not related to Prophetﷺﷺ in any way that would make her a mahram. She is a completely unrelated woman. Yet she says: “I performed wudu with Prophetﷺ.” There were many people present, but they claim that only mahrams were present. To refute this, what does Umm Sabiyyah say? She says: “When Prophetﷺﷺ performed wudu, my hand and the hand of Prophetﷺﷺ would take water from the same vessel and we would use it.” This is a narration in Abu Dawud.
Looking at all this, during the time of Prophetﷺﷺ, having the arms up to the elbow visible was not considered wrong. In ordinary times, you may cover. There is no need to reduce what has become customary. Wear what you wish. The only obligation in the religion is that you should not go beyond this. If a woman wears a three-quarter sleeve shirt without adornment, even that cannot be considered wrong unless you can provide evidence. You must also respond to the evidence that has been presented.
When Ibn Hajar speaks about this, he says that no proper response can be given to this evidence. Some try to evade it, saying they were wives or mahrams. Even with such clear wording, some scholars give the explanation that men performed wudu first and then women came later, when the hadith clearly says they did it together. He criticizes them for giving explanations that do not fit. He says that no matter what explanation you give, you cannot escape this. Finally, what does he say? He says: “Perhaps this was before the verse of hijab was revealed.” He suggests that this might have been before hijab.
This itself is incorrect. Why? Because all these narrations are reported after hijab. Ibn Umar reports this event after the time of Prophetﷺﷺ. He is saying that this existed during the time of Prophetﷺﷺ. It existed throughout that period and did not change at any point. When they say, “during the time of Prophetﷺﷺ,” they are reporting after the Prophetﷺ’s death. When they report that this was the case during the time of Prophetﷺﷺ, what does it mean? The general understanding is that it continued until the end of his time. Even if we accept that, they try to escape by linking it to hijab, saying it was before hijab.
What does hijab have to do with this? The verse of hijab refers to the wives of Prophetﷺﷺ screening themselves from strange men. What connection does that have to this? All scholars say “hijab, hijab” without understanding. This is not even called hijab. The verse of hijab says that the wives of the Prophetﷺ must screen themselves. Allah addresses the wives of the Prophetﷺ. He says: “If you ask for something from them, ask from behind a screen.” The word hijab here refers to a physical screen or curtain, not a garment. The verse also includes laws about not marrying the Prophetﷺ’s wives after his death. That is the verse of hijab. What connection does that have to this? This is a general matter concerning all women. If it was before hijab, you could say that the Prophetﷺ’s wives might have done this, but that applies only to them.
But these scholars use the term hijab to refer to the clothing of all women. Look at the verse of hijab. Allah addresses “O wives of the Prophetﷺ.” The word hijab appears in the context of a screen in the home. It says: “If you ask them for something, ask from behind a screen.” Hijab means a curtain. Without understanding this, scholars say that the burqa is hijab. Even ignorant people today say this, and knowledgeable people also say it. Even someone like Ibn Hajar says this is called hijab. What connection does hijab have to this? What connection does hijab have to all women? Hijab, meaning being completely behind a screen, is a law specific to the wives of the Prophetﷺ. Whether that law was revealed or not, what effect does it have on this? This is a different matter concerning other women performing wudu. So this is the maximum response they give.
The most authentic position is that there is no mandatory requirement to cover up to the wrist. Covering the hands is a matter of modesty, but it is not a compulsion proven by strong evidence.
