She is living in a non-Muslim country where she is afraid to wear Islamic dress and seek Islamic knowledge

Question: 217286

I am a woman living in France, and I want to wear the jilbaab. Near me there is an organisation that teaches Islamic knowledge, to which the Salafis come, both men and women, and I found out that the police are watching them and recording everyone who enters it. So I hesitated to wear the jilbaab out of fear, and I hesitated to go to that organisation to seek knowledge. What advice can you give me?

Summary of answer

To sum up, what we advise you to do now is not to neglect your hijab or be careless about it. We think that there is no harm to you in doing that, in sha Allah, and if it so happens that the police in some place are watching religious people, or some of them, then this kind of watching will not necessarily lead to direct harm; rather this is something that happens in most countries. There is no power and no strength except with Allah. Strive hard to acquire whatever you need of Islamic knowledge, whether that is in the mosque or by reading beneficial educational websites, or listening to educational recordings on the Internet. If you fear some danger for yourself, and it is real and justified fear, not just paranoia or speculation or rumours, or if you are unable to openly practice any of the duties of your religion, then move from that place and go back to your country, or migrate to a better country where you will be able to establish the symbols of your religion and be safe. And Allah knows best.

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and his family.

Hijab is a definite obligation enjoined by Allah, may He
be exalted, on the Muslim woman. Its obligatory nature is proven from
the Qur’an, the saheeh Sunnah, and the consensus of the ummah of all
madhhabs and schools of thought; no madhhab differed from that and no
faqeeh went against it, and this has been the practice throughout the
history of the ummah. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of
the meaning):

“O Prophet!
Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw
their cloaks (veils) all over their bodies (i.e., screen themselves
completely except the eyes or one eye to see the way). That will be better,
that they should be known (as free respectable women) so as not to be
annoyed. And Allah is Ever Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful”

[al-Ahzaab 33:59]

“…and to draw
their veils all over Juyubihinna (i.e. their bodies, faces, necks and
bosoms, etc.) and not to reveal their adornment…”

[an-Noor 24:31].

The duty that is required of every Muslim is to adhere to the
obligations of his religion, and to strive to please his Lord and comply
with His commands. No one has the right to force a Muslim, whether by means
of physical or psychological pressure, to give that up and not obey his
Lord.

We have previously discussed the details of hijab as
prescribed in Islam in fatwa no. 6991.

It is not permissible for the Muslim woman to go against
these requirements, and it is not permissible for her to stay in a place
where she is not able to adhere to the manner of dress prescribed in Islam.
Rather, if she is faced with pressure in any place, and she is afraid to
adhere to hijab or any other symbol of her religion, she must migrate from
that place, because migration from such places is obligatory, as we have
explained previously in fatwa no. 13363.

Moreover, some Islamic knowledge is obligatory for every
Muslim to learn, so it is not permissible for him to be heedless about it or
to claim the excuse of ignorance. That includes matters such as knowing
about the Oneness of Allah, may He be glorified, and His Lordship and His
divinity, and knowing the individual duties of every Muslim man and woman.
With regard to such knowledge, it is obligatory for every Muslim to learn
it, as we have previously explained in detail in fatwa no.
161081.

So the Muslim should take all possible means and follow every
possible path to acquire this kind of knowledge. If he takes such measures
but finds that there is pressure on him in some place, that prevents him
from learning, then he must also migrate from that place to another place,
exactly as we said in the case of the Muslim woman who experiences pressure
with regard to wearing hijab as prescribed in Islam: she must migrate to
another place where she will be able to obey her Lord and cover her body as
Allah wants her to and has made obligatory for her.

Source:

Islam Q&A

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