Shaikh Nuh Ha Mim Keller has issued a new lecture on the subject of niqab via the website Suhba.org. It is available to the public in the "lessons" section of the website. In the past, the shaikh has advised women in western countries not to wear the niqab; that advice seems to have changed slightly in this lecture. The shaikh mentioned a Newsweek cover containing a picture of a woman in niqab with the caption "Women and Terror", which may cause people to connect the veil with terrorism. In fact, a lot of ordinary Jordanian women wear the niqab.
The shaikh's advice was delivered to an audience of his students, and is intended for tariqa followers. His instruction is that women following his tariqa who are visiting Syria or Jordan are to wear the niqab at all times except in cases of absolute necessity, such as when their job demands it. He said that if the sisters are afraid of resembling "salafis", they should wear a veil of white or pastel-coloured material, as a lot of Jordanian women do.
He mentioned that some years ago, the Muslim Brotherhood had issued a poster containing a picture of a woman wearing just a headscarf with a declaration that "this is how Muslim women should dress" or something like that. His shaikh, Abdul-Rahman al-Shaghouri, called anyone who called for women to remove their face-coverings a shaytaan, meaning someone remote from Allah ta'ala (devil, in common translation). However, when he mentioned to Shaikh Abdul-Rahman that he was to marry a lady from a western country and asked what she should do in the west where covering the face was not common, the shaikh indicated that she could uncover no more than her face and her hands.
In any other country, Muslim or non-Muslim, it was the woman's choice whether to wear the niqab or not (he had previously advised women not to wear it in the west); the exceptions for women in the tariqa being at the suhba meetings, when travelling with the shaikh and his wife, or when in personal interviews with the shaikh, in which case she must wear niqab. He advised men who fear the consequences (at work, for example) of their wives' dress to explain that their wives are religious. He said that he had nothing to do with a woman taking off her hijab altogether unless the law of the land demands it.
Tsk Tsk... Hijrah Hijrah.
There's very little better than reading the articles, or listening to the lectures, of the Shaykh.
Salams Sidi,
You wrote "He said that he had nothing to do with a woman taking off her hijab altogether except in cases of severe necessity."
As I recalled from the lesson, he said he does not have anything to do with anyone who takes off their hijab. He did not mention anything about "except in severe necessities".
I hope you can correct your article so it reflects what the Sheikh actually said. I think it is better to do a transcript rather than do a summary as we might misquote what the speaker actually said.
And Allah knows best.
Ma'salama
As-Salaamu 'alaikum,
Thanks for the tip. It's been done (the condition can be found about 13 minutes and 30 or so seconds into the lecture). I put "severe necessity" as it was meant to be a summary and because there might be other circumstances that severe, but you probably can't get much more severe than that.
Does it really matter what the shaykh said? The vast majority of all scholars within all madhhabs say/said that the face is not part of the 'awra, so how can a shaykh make haram what the vast majority of the scholars considered halal and then make it halal in another context? For simple fiqh issues shouldn't we just stick to the fiqh?
I am not a salafi but true sufis do not make fun of anyone as salafis are muslims and have all rights that other muslims have on any muslim. Real sheikhs do not minimize the level of anyone by fear of arrogance. Even for non muslims in the time when these non muslims where unsignificant at the political, military an cultural levels (like for Mawlana Jalal Eddin Al Rumi who welcomed everyone). True sufis do not say anything about fellow sheikhs. I do not believe what your sheikh said about al ikhwan and I am not one of them but I know that those he talked about are :
- Sheikh Abdul Fattah Abu Ghudda Rahimahu Allah, who was one of the most prominent Muhaddiths of his time and one of the Hanafi scholars and probably sufi.
- Sheikh Said Hawwa, Rahimahu Allah, who was an outspoken scholar and sufi and who has written extensively about tasawuf and who has many sheikhs and who was a true sufi Rahimahu Allah.
Sheikh Al Shaghouri, Radhiya Allahu anhu, who was a TRUE sheikh, could not possibly hurt anyone of these knowing them. Sheikh al Bouti, Hafidhahu Allah, has never declared against any salafi that he was shaytan or against anyone in the muslim world. Sheikh Ghazali has declared so against declared communists who were insulting Sayyidina Rasoulou Allah Salla Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam. Sheikh Al-Ghazali and Al-Bouti are the most outspoken scholars against the salafis, yet no one of them has ever said anything minimizing against the salafis. They only oppose the arrogance of some salafis with a very little irony just to enlight the debates, no more. Please, make nasiha to your sheikh as even if someone is good, that does not make him maasoum and he can make mistakes. Besides, this means that sufis are not blind followers but of Rasoulu Allah Salla Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam and other people should be followed by heart and reason. You should prevent yourself from becoming a sect where the followers make the leader so sacred that whatever he says is followed. Women who do not wear a niqab are not evil and many scholars have this opinion backed by strong evidence. The scholars who think that niqab is wajib are also numerous but no one thinks that the others are shaytan.
Assalaamu alaikum,
Alhamdulillah the Sheikh has spoken quite well. i have noticed someone has complained that the sheikh should not minimise other sheikhs, so i would just like to say that there is nothing wrong in doing that if one is to point out anothers mistake.
Ma'a salaama