Hanafi madhhab on covering the hands in salah
The Hanafis say that the awrah of a free woman in salah is all of her body except the face and the hands.
Al Sharnbalali explains that the whole body of the free woman is awrah except her face and her hands, and that this includes both the palms and the backs of the hands according to the sounder and chosen view. He adds that the forearm is awrah in the apparent and sound narration, although it is reported from Abu Hanifah that the forearm is not awrah.
This shows clearly that in the Hanafi madhhab the hands up to the wrists are not awrah and do not have to be covered in salah. (Al Sharnbalali, Maraki al Falah, p. 89)
Al Kasani says that if a woman prays in one garment, wrapping herself in it, her prayer is valid as long as she covers her head and all of her body with it apart from the face and the hands, which again confirms that the Hanafis allow the hands to be uncovered in the prayer. (Al Kasani, Badai al Sana’i, 1/209)
Maliki madhhab on covering the hands in salah
The Malikis hold that the awrah of a woman in salah is all of her body except the face and the hands, but they see it as recommended and better for her to cover her hands.
Ad Dusuqi states that her awrah regarding being seen and regarding the prayer, both the severe and the light awrah, is everything other than the face and the hands, so the hands are not awrah, though covering them is seen as more complete. (Hashiyat ad Dusuqi ala ash Sharh al Kabir, 1/215)
Ibn Abdul Barr says that any garment which covers all of her body and hair and hides the feet is valid for her prayer, because all of her body is awrah except the face and the hands, and he reports that this is the view of most of the people of knowledge.
He adds that Malik, Abu Hanifah, al Shafi and their companions, as well as al Awza’i and Abu Thawr, all said that a woman must cover everything of her body in salah except her face and her hands, and he relates consensus from the ulama that a woman may pray the obligatory prayer with her face and hands uncovered. (Ibn Abdul Barr, At Tamheed, 6/364–365)
Shafi madhhab on covering the hands in salah
The Shafi ulama say that the free woman is all awrah except the face and the hands, and this applies both in the prayer and outside the prayer when there are no non mahram men present.
Imam al Shafi says that a free woman must cover herself in salah so that nothing of her appears except her face and her hands, and that if anything else appears she must repeat the prayer, which clearly shows that in his view the hands may remain uncovered during salah. (Al Hawi al Kabir, 2/165)
Al Damiri explains that for the free woman everything is awrah except the face and the hands, both back and palm, from the tips of the fingers to the wrists. He bases this on the verse “and they must not show their adornment except what appears from it” al Nur: 31.
Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنه and Aishah رضي الله عنها said means the face and the hands, and he adds that if the hands were awrah they would not be uncovered in ihram. This confirms that in the Shafi madhhab the hands are not awrah in salah and do not have to be covered. (Al Damiri, Al Najm al Wahhaj, 2/192)
Hanbali madhhab on covering the hands in salah
The Hanbalis as a madhhab say that all of a free woman’s body is awrah in salah except the face, and they treat the hands as awrah which must be covered in the well known and preferred view.
Ibn Qudamah states that if anything is uncovered from the free woman other than her face she must repeat the prayer, and he mentions that the scholars agree she must cover her head and that praying with the whole head uncovered makes the prayer invalid, then he discusses the hands as a separate point.
He reports that there are two narrations from Imam Ahmad about the hands. One narration is that it is not obligatory to cover them in salah, and this is linked to the view of Malik and al Shafi that the whole woman is awrah except face and hands, supported by the interpretation of Ibn Abbas that the verse “and they must not show their adornment except what appears from it” (al Nur: 31) refers to the face and the hands, and by the hadith forbidding the woman in ihram from wearing gloves, which shows the hands are normally uncovered.
The second narration is that the hands are part of the awrah and must be covered in salah. This is the clear statement of al Khiraqi and is supported by the famous report “The woman is awrah,” (Tirmidhi 1173, Graded Da’if) which they take as a general text that requires covering all of her body, and they say that the face is only left out of this rule because there is a clear need to uncover it.
They answer the use of Ibn Abbas’s tafsir by citing Ibn Masud, who explained the same verse as referring to the outer clothing, and by arguing that the need to uncover the hands is like the need to uncover the feet, which does not stop the feet being awrah. (Al Mughni, 2/326–330)
Hanbalis differing on covering the hands
Al Mardawi in Al Insaf gathers the Hanbali views and says that the correct madhhab is that everything other than the face and the two hands is awrah, and he records that regarding the hands there are two well known narrations with many books mentioning them without giving preference.
One narration holds that the hands are awrah, and he also says that this is the madhhab and the view of the majority of Hanbali ulama, and that leading scholars like al Qadi and al Khiraqi gave this view preference in their works.
The second narration is that the two hands are not awrah. Al Mardawi reports that this view is stated decisively in a number of Hanbali texts and that it was chosen by major Hanbali scholars such as al Majd Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn as Saati, Ibn Munja, Ibn Ubaydan, Ibn Abdus and Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah.
Al Marwadi says that this is the correct view, and some later Hanbalis also declared it sound, so within the Hanbali madhhab there is a strong view that allows a woman to uncover her hands in salah. (Al Mardawi, Al Insaf, 1/452–453)
Contemporary ulama on covering the hands in salah
Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen also says some say the hands and feet are awrah and must be covered, and others say they are not awrah and that uncovering them does not invalidate the salah.
He concludes that the better and more cautious way is that a woman does not uncover her hands or her feet when she is praying, while noting that in the matter of looking the face is more serious in temptation than the hands or the feet. (Majmu Fatawa wa Rasail Ibn Uthaymeen, 12/296)
The views of the four madhhabs on a woman uncovering her hands in the prayer
The Hanafi madhhab
The Hanafis hold that the awrah of a free woman in the prayer is all of her body except the face and the hands.
Al Sharnbalali says: The entire body of a free woman is awrah except her face and her hands, meaning both the palms and the backs of the hands, according to the sounder view, and this is the chosen view. The forearm of a free woman is awrah according to the apparent narration, and this is the sounder view. It is reported from Abu Hanifah that it is not awrah.
Her feet are also excluded according to the sounder of the two narrations, meaning both the soles and the tops of the feet, due to general need, so they are not awrah.
The hair of a free woman, even the part that hangs down, is awrah according to the sounder view, and this is the relied upon ruling.
So uncovering a quarter of it prevents the prayer from being valid, and it is not permitted to look at it. If it is cut off from her, then according to the sounder view.
Maraki al Falah Sharh Nur al Idah page 89
Al Kasani said in Badai al Sana’i (1/209): “If a woman prays in one garment, wrapping herself in it, her prayer is valid as long as she covers her head and all of her body with it, apart from the face and the hands..”
The Maliki madhhab
The Malikis hold that the awrah of a woman in the prayer is all of her body except the face and the hands, but they considered it recommended for her to cover her hands.
ad Dusuqi said: Her awrah with respect to being seen, and likewise with respect to the prayer, including the severe and the light awrah. What is referred to here is everything other than the face and the hands.
Ḥsshiyat ad Dusuqi ʿalā ash Sharḥ al Kabir (1/215)
Ibn Abdul Barr said: Any garment that hides the appearance of her feet and covers all of her body and her hair is permissible for her to pray in, because all of her body is awrah except the face and the hands. This is the view of most of the people of knowledge.
They have agreed that a woman uncovers her face during the prayer and during ihram. Malik, Abu Hanifah, al Shafi‘i, and their companions said, and this is also the view of al Awza‘i and Abu Thawr, that a woman must cover everything of her body except her face and her hands.
This statement of Abu Bakr is outside the sayings of the people of knowledge. The consensus of the ulama is that a woman may pray the obligatory prayer while her hands and her face are uncovered. All of that is part of her body with which she directly touches the ground.
Kitab At Tamheed By Ibn Abdul Barr (6/364-265)
The Shafi madhhab
The Shafi ulama hold that the woman is all awrah except the face and the hands, whether in the prayer or outside it when there are no non mahram men present.
Imam Ash-Shafi’i (may Allah be pleased with him) said: A woman, if she is free, must cover herself in her prayer so that nothing of her appears except her face and her hands. If anything other than that appears from her, she must repeat the prayer.
Al-Ḥawi al-Kabir by Al Mawrdawi (2/165)
al-Damiri Abu al-Baqa’ al-Shafi‘i said in Al-Najm al-Wahhaj fi Sharh al-Minhaj (2/192) which is a classical work in Shafi‘i fiqh, and a detailed commentary on “Minhaj al-Talibin” by an-Nawawi, he says in regads to the free woman: Everything except the face and the hands, both the back and the palm, from the tips of the fingers to the wrists is awrah.
This is due to the saying of Allah: “and they must not show their adornment except what appears from it” (al Nur: 31). Ibn Abbas and Aishah said: it is the face and the hands. Also, if they were awrah, it would not have been required to uncover them during ihram.
The Hanbali madhhab
The Hanbalis hold that all of the body of the woman is awrah in the prayer except the face only, and that the hands are awrah which must be covered.
Ibn Qudamah said: If anything is uncovered from the free woman other than her face, she must repeat the prayer.
There is no disagreement in the madhhab that it is allowed for a woman to uncover her face in the prayer, and I do not know of any disagreement about this among the people of knowledge. It is not allowed for her to uncover anything other than her face and her hands, and regarding the hands there are two narrations.
The scholars differed in this issue. Most of them agreed that she may pray while her face is uncovered. The scholars also agreed that the free woman must cover her head when she prays, and that if she prays while all of her head is uncovered then she must repeat the prayer.
Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH) said: The feet are not part of the awrah, because they usually appear, so they are like the face. If less than a quarter of her hair, or a quarter of her thigh, or a quarter of her stomach becomes uncovered, her prayer does not become invalid.
Malik (d. 179 AH), al Awza‘i (d. 157 AH), and al Shafi‘i (d. 204 AH) said: The whole woman is awrah except her face and her hands, and whatever is other than that must be covered in the prayer. This is because Ibn Abbas said, regarding the saying of Allah:
ولا يبدين زينتهن إلا ما ظهر منها
“and they must not show their adornment except what appears from it” (al Nur 31), that it means the face and the hands.
And because the Prophet ﷺ forbade the woman in ihram from wearing gloves and from wearing the face veil. If the face and the hands were awrah, then covering them would not have been forbidden. Also, there is a need to uncover the face for buying and selling, and the hands for taking and giving.
Some of our companions said: The woman is entirely awrah, because it has been narrated in a hadith from the Prophet ﷺ that he said: “The woman is awrah.” Al Tirmidhi narrated it and said: It is a hasan sahih hadith (Tirmidhi 1173)
Side note: This hadith is da’if because of Amir ibn Asim
Abu Ubayd al Ajuri said: I asked Abu Dawud about Amr ibn Asim al Kalabi, and he said: I am not keen on his hadith. He said: And I asked Abu Dawud about Amr ibn Asim and al Hawdi in their narrations from Hammam, and he gave preference to al Hawdi. (Tahdhib al Kamal 22/87)
al Ajuri said from Abu Dawud: I am not keen on his hadith. He said: And I asked him about him and about al Hawdi in narrations from Hammam, and he gave preference to al Hawdi. He said: Muhammad ibn Bashshar/Bundar said: If it were not for my fear of the family of Amr ibn Asim, I would have abandoned his hadith. (Tahdhib al Tahdhib 3/282)
But she has been given a concession to uncover her face and her hands because covering them brings hardship, and it has been allowed to look at them for the purpose of proposing, because they are the place where beauty is gathered. This is the view of Abu Bakr ibn Abd al Rahman ibn al Harith ibn Hisham (d. 94 AH). He said: The woman is entirely awrah, even her fingernail. (Abu Bakr ibn Abd al Rahman ibn al Harith ibn Hisham al Makhzumi was one of the jurists of Madinah and one of the seven famous jurists. He was known as the monk of Quraysh. This is mentioned by al Shirazi in Tabaqat al Fuqaha and by Ibn Hajar in Tahdhib al Tahdhib.)
This shows that covering the feet is obligatory, because they are a part that does not have to be uncovered in ihram, so it is not allowed to uncover them in the prayer, just like the shins. As for what they mentioned about making the invalidity of the prayer depend on more than a quarter of a limb, this is an arbitrary claim without proof, and fixing a measure is not accepted based on simple opinion.
The obligation to cover the head is proven by the saying of the Prophet ﷺ: “Allah does not accept the prayer of a woman who has reached menses except with a head covering.” Al Tirmidhi narrated it and said: It is a hasan hadith. (Tirmidhi 377 & Abu Dawud 641) It is also proven by the consensus which we mentioned before.
As for the hands, we have mentioned that there are two narrations about them. One of them is that it is not obligatory to cover them, for the reasons we have just mentioned.
The second is that it is obligatory to cover them, because of the saying of the Prophet ﷺ: “The woman is awrah.” This is general and requires covering all of her body, except what is taken out of it by evidence.
The saying of Ibn Abbas that “it is the face and the hands” has been opposed by Ibn Masud. It is narrated from Abu Hafs that he reported from Abd Allah ibn Masud that he said about the saying of Allah, the Exalted:
ولا يبدين زينتهن إلا ما ظهر منها
“and they must not show their adornment except what appears from it,” that it means the clothing, and that what appears without usual habit is like the appearance of the face. (al Nur verse 31)
Also, uncovering the hands is not required in ihram. What is forbidden is that she wears something made to fit them, like gloves, just as it is forbidden for a man to wear trousers that are shaped to his body, at the same time that he still covers his awrah with something else.
The hadith that the Prophet ﷺ forbade the woman in ihram from wearing gloves and the face veil was narrated by Abu Dawud in the chapter What the pilgrim wears, from the Book of Hajj, by al Tirmidhi in the chapter of what the pilgrim is allowed to wear from the chapters of Hajj, by al Nasa’i in the chapter forbidding the woman in ihram from wearing the face veil and the chapter forbidding her from wearing gloves, from the Book of Hajj, by Imam Malik in the chapter about the pilgrim reddening her face from the Book of Hajj in al Muwatta, and by Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal in his Musnad.
Concerning the two narrations about the hands:
One narration is that it is allowed for her to uncover them.
This is the view of Malik (d. 179 AH) and al Shafi‘i (d. 204 AH). This is because Ibn Abbas said about the saying of Allah, the Exalted: ولا يبدين زينتهن إلا ما ظهر منها “and they must not show their adornment except what appears from it,” that it means the face and the hands. Also, it is forbidden for the woman in ihram to cover her hands with gloves, just as it is forbidden for her to cover her face with a face veil, so the hands are not part of the awrah, like the face. In addition, the usual habit is that the hands appear and are uncovered, and there is a need to uncover them for taking and giving, just as there is a need to uncover the face for buying and selling, so uncovering them in the prayer is not forbidden, like the face.
The second narration is that they are part of the awrah and must be covered in the prayer. This is the view of al Khiraqi (d. 334 AH), and something similar was said by Abu Bakr ibn Abd al Rahman ibn al Harith ibn Hisham (d. 94 AH). He said: The woman is entirely awrah, even her fingernail, because it is narrated from the Prophet ﷺ that he said: “The woman is awrah.” Al Tirmidhi narrated it and said: It is a hasan sahih hadith. This is a general statement which requires covering all of her body, and the face is left uncovered due to need, so everything else remains under the proof.
As for the saying of Ibn Abbas, it is opposed by Ibn Masud, for he said about the saying of Allah, the Exalted:
ولا يبدين زينتهن إلا ما ظهر منها
“and they must not show their adornment except what appears from it,” (al Nur verse 31) that it means the clothing, and that what appears without usual habit is like the appearance of the face.
Also, the need to uncover the hands is like the need to uncover the face, so it is not correct to make an analogy that attaches the hands to the face in a way that makes the hands follow the ruling of the face without clear proof.
Then what they mentioned about the hands is overturned by the case of the feet, because the feet usually appear as the hands do, yet covering them is obligatory. The feet are more similar to the hands than to the face, so making them follow the hands is more fitting.
As for the rest of the body of the free woman, it must be covered in the prayer. If any part of it is uncovered, her prayer is not valid, unless what is uncovered is very little. This is also the view of Malik (d. 179 AH), al Awza‘i (d. 157 AH), and al Shafi‘i (d. 204 AH).
Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH) said: The feet are not part of the awrah because they usually appear, so they are like the hands. Also, they are washed in wudu, so they are not awrah, like the face and the hands. If less than a quarter of her hair, or a quarter of her thigh, or a quarter of her stomach becomes uncovered, her prayer does not become invalid.
Our proof is what Umm Salamah narrated. She said: I said, O Messenger of Allah, does a woman pray in a long shirt and a head covering when she has no lower wrap on her? He said: “Yes, if it is long enough to cover the backs of her feet.”
Abu Dawud narrated this and said that a group shortened it and stopped it at Umm Salamah, and that Abd al Rahman ibn Abd Allah ibn Dinar raised it. Abd al Rahman is the freedman of Ibn Umar, and there is weakness in his hadith.
It is also narrated from Ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Allah does not look at the one who drags his garment out of pride.” Umm Salamah said: Then what should women do with the trains of their garments? He said: “They let them down a hand span.”
She said: Then their feet will be uncovered. He said: “Then they let them down a cubit, and they do not go beyond that.” Al Tirmidhi (d. 279 AH) narrated it and said: It is a hasan sahih hadith.
This shows that covering the feet is obligatory, because they are a part that does not have to be uncovered in ihram, so it is not allowed to uncover them in the prayer, like the shins.
Also, the report that the woman is awrah is combined with consensus, because the people of knowledge have agreed that the free woman must cover her head in the prayer, and that if she prays while all of her head is uncovered then she must repeat.
Fixing the measure at a quarter is arbitrary and has no proof, and fixing measures is not allowed based only on opinion and arbitrariness. The obligation to cover the head is proven by the saying of the Prophet ﷺ: “Allah does not accept the prayer of a woman who has reached menses except with a head covering.” Al Tirmidhi narrated it and said: It is a hasan hadith. In this there is an indication of the obligation to cover the stomach and the rest of her body.
al Mughni (2/326-330)
His statement: The free woman is all awrah, even her fingernail and her hair, except the face.
The correct view in the madhhab is that the face is not awrah. This is the view of the companions of the madhhab. Al Qadi related this as a consensus. There is another report that the face is also awrah.
Az Zarkashi (d. 794 AH) said: Imam Ahmad used general wording that all of her is awrah. This is to be understood as referring to what is other than the face, or to when she is not in the prayer. He said: Some of them said that the face is awrah, and that it is only uncovered in the prayer because of need.
Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH) said: The precise view is that it is not awrah in the prayer, and that it is awrah in the matter of looking, when it is not allowed to look at it.
His statement: And regarding the two hands there are two narrations.
Both narrations are mentioned without preference in al Jami as Saghir, al Hidayah, al Mubhij, al Fusul, at Tadhkirah of the author, al Madhhab, Masbuk adh Dhahab, al Mustaw‘ib, al Kafi, al Hadi, al Khulasah, at Talkhis, al Bulghah, al Muharrar, ash Sharh, the work of Ibn Tamim (d. 371 AH), al Faiq, the work of Ibn Ubaydan (d. 474 AH), the work of az Zarkashi (d. 794 AH), al Madhhab al Ahmad, and al Hawi as Saghir.
One of the two narrations is that the two hands are awrah. This is the madhhab, and it is the view of the majority.
In al Furu it is mentioned that most of the scholars chose this view. Az Zarkashi (d. 794 AH) said: This is the choice of al Qadi (d. 334 AH) in at Ta‘liq. He said: It is the apparent meaning of the words of Imam Ahmad.
Al Khiraqi (d. 334 AH) stated this view decisively. It is also stated decisively in al Manawwir, al Muntakhab, and at Tariq al Aqrab. It is given preference in al Idah, ar Riayah, an Nazm, Tajrid al Inayah, Idraq al Ghayah, and al Furu.
The second narration is that the two hands are not awrah. This is stated decisively in al Umdah, al Ifadat, al Wajiz, an Nihayah, and an Nazm.
It was chosen by al Majd Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 653 AH) in his Sharh, by the author of Majma al Bahrain Ibn as Saati (d. 694 AH), by Ibn Munja (d. 620 AH), by Ibn Ubaydan (d. 474 AH), by Ibn Abdus (d. 376 AH) in his Tadhkirah, and by Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH).
Al Marwadi says: This is the correct view. It is also given preference in al Hawi al Kabir and by Ibn Ruzin in his Sharh, and our Shaykh declared it sound in his Tashih al Muharrar.
One of the two matters is that the author has clearly stated that whatever is other than the face and the two hands is awrah, and this is correct. This is the madhhab, and it is the view of the companions. Ibn al Mundhir related a consensus about this in regard to the head covering. Shaykh Taqi al Din chose that the two feet are also not awrah.
Al Marwadi says: This is the correct view.
The second matter: It may be said that his statement “the free woman is all awrah” includes the discerning girl and the girl close to puberty. This is the view of some of the companions regarding the girl close to puberty, and it is the apparent sense of the words of many of the companions about her. He said in an Nukat: The words of many of the companions require that she is like an adult woman in what is awrah in the prayer.
The author stated decisively in al Mugni in the Book of Marriage, and al Majd in his Sharh, and Ibn Tamim, and the versifier, and the author of al Hawi al Kabir, and the author of Majma al Bahrain, and Ibn Ubaydan, that the girl close to puberty is like the slave woman.
Az Zarkashi (d. 794 AH) gave this view preference. He said in al Furu: Some of them said, “and the girl close to puberty.” Some of them said: “and the discerning girl is like the slave woman.”
Abu Talib related that, regarding the hair, the shin, and the forearm, it is not obligatory to cover them until she menstruates. He said in the two works ar Riayatain and al Hawi as Saghir: It was said that the discerning girl is like the slave woman.
Abu al Maali (d. 606 AH) said: After nine years she is like one who has reached full age. Then he mentioned from the companions that, except in the matter of uncovering the head, and before nine years, and it was also said before seven years, the two private parts must be covered, and that it is allowed to look at what is other than them.
Al Insaf By Al Mardawi (1/452-453)
Fatawa of contemporary ulama
The sisters asked is covering the hands and the feet in the prayer obligatory for a woman, or is it permissible to leave them uncovered, especially if there are no non-mahram men present or if she is praying among women?
Shaykh Ibn Baz, may Allah have mercy on him, answered and said: As for the face, the Sunnah is to uncover it in the prayer if there are no non-mahram men.
The majority of scholars hold that it is obligatory to cover the feet, although some scholars have allowed leniency regarding the feet. However, the majority opinion is that they must be covered.
For this reason, it is narrated that Abu Dawud, may Allah have mercy on him, reported from Umm Salamah, may Allah be pleased with her, that she was asked about a woman praying in a long shirt and head covering without a lower garment. She said that is fine as long as the shirt covers the tops of her feet. So covering the feet is better and more precautionary in all circumstances.
As for the hands, the matter is more lenient. If her hands are uncovered, there is no harm, and if she covers them, that is also good. Some scholars view covering the hands as preferable, but it is a matter of ease. If she prays with her hands uncovered, there is no harm in that either.
The shaykh was asked: What is the ruling on a woman showing her hands or her feet during the prayer, and what is the ruling on a woman uncovering her face?
Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The matter of a woman who is praying showing her hands or her feet is an issue in which the people of knowledge differed.
Some of them held that her hands and her feet are part of the awrah, and based on this they said that it is not allowed for a woman to uncover them while she is praying.
Others held that they are not part of the awrah, and that uncovering them does not invalidate the prayer.
The better and more cautious way is that the woman should not uncover her feet or her hands while praying.
As for the matter of looking, there is no doubt that it is forbidden for a woman to uncover her face except for her husband and her mahrams. As for the hands and the feet, they are less tempting than the face.
Majmu’ Fatawa wa Rasail Muhammad ibn Salih al-‘Uthaymeen (12/296)
