Firstly, it is a religious obligation for a woman to wear the ḥijāb in the presence of non-maḥram (marriageable) men once she reaches puberty, whether she lives in an Islamic country or not. It is even a condition for her to travel and live in non-Muslim countries.

The agreed-upon standard for ḥijāb is that it covers her entire body except for the face and hands, based on evidence from the Qur᾽ān, the Sunnah, and the practices of the female Companions, Followers, and the wives of scholars through generations.

Secondly, it is not permissible to remove the ḥijāb except for a legitimate necessity, and the criteria for legitimate necessity are determined by Islamic jurists with the help of experts in the relevant field.

Upon consulting medical experts, it is confirmed that there is no relationship between wearing the ḥijāb and hair loss; hair loss is related to internal factors rather than external ones, as it is connected to the scalp. The well-known causes of hair loss include:

1. Family history (genetics): The most common cause of hair loss is a hereditary condition that occurs with aging.
2. Hormonal changes and medical conditions: Many conditions can cause permanent or temporary hair loss, including hormonal changes due to pregnancy, childbirth, menopause, and thyroid problems.
3. Medications and supplements: Hair loss can be a side effect of certain drugs, such as those used for cancer, arthritis, depression, heart problems, gout, and high blood pressure.
4. Radiation therapy to the head: The hair may not grow back as it did before.
5. A stressful event: Many people experience a general thinning of hair several months after a physical or emotional shock. This type of hair loss is temporary.
6. Hairstyles and treatments: Excessive hairstyling or hairstyles that pull the hair tight can cause a type of hair loss called traction alopecia, for example, overly tight braiding. Hot oil treatments and chemical straightening can cause hair to fall out. If scarring occurs, hair loss could be permanent (as per Mayo Clinic).

Thirdly, regarding the removal of the ḥijāb due to fear, fear can either be speculative or certain. Speculative fear does not justify removing the ḥijāb because it is based on conjecture, which can always be present whether one wears the ḥijāb or not. Therefore, we should not consider it as a default principle, as doing so would undermine religious obligations based on conjecture.

As for certain fear, it permits the omission of some obligations, including the ḥijāb. However, obligations must still be prioritized. For instance, if the choice is between removing the ḥijāb and the woman staying at home, it is better for the woman to stay at home. However, if she must go out and there is a certain danger (which is rare in these times), she may remove the ḥijāb to prioritize personal safety. The danger here includes both the woman and her dependents.

If someone asks, what is the difference between certain fear and speculative fear?

I would say: Certain fear involves matters where the occurrence of the feared event is either inevitable or highly likely. For example, the fear of fire is certain because fire usually burns, and it would not be said that fire might not burn because it did not burn Prophet ᾽Ibrāhīm, as this was an exceptional miracle.

Similarly, fear of the sword’s edge because it typically cuts, fear of falling from a height because it usually leads to injury, and fear of eating spoiled food because it typically causes poisoning.

Evidence for this includes Allāh’s saying: “And do not throw [yourselves] with your [own] hands into destruction.” [Al-Baqarah, 2:195], which means to avoid dangerous situations. And the Prophet’s saying: “If you hear of an outbreak of plague in a land, do not enter it; but if it breaks out in a land where you are, do not leave it.” [Agreed upon].

And ῾Umar’s statement: “What do you think if you have camels and you happen to get down a valley having two sides, one of them covered with foliage and the other being barren, will you not act according to the Divine Decree if you graze them in vegetative land? In case you graze them in the barren land, even then you will be doing so according to the Divine Decree.” Thus, the fear of harm from the barren area is certain.

Identifying certain harm can be achieved in several ways, including:

• Necessary knowledge based on sensory evidence, such as the burning of fire.
• Deductive knowledge, such as knowing the earth is round.
• The testimony of a trustworthy source, such as knowledge of the unseen, revelation, heaven, and hell.

For examples of certain fear in the context of the ḥijāb, consider:

• When harm is known through one of the means of knowledge, such as when an enemy is lying in wait, as in some Hindu-majority areas in India.
• When a law against the ḥijāb is widely enforced with penalties and one cannot escape the law’s authority, as in some European countries.
• When a woman is in a war zone and her ḥijāb marks her as a Muslim, putting her in danger, as was the case in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s where Muslim men were identified by circumcision and women by the ḥijāb.
• When a woman is in a racist society hostile to Islam, similar to the experience of Africans in Mississippi.

These are examples of certain fear.

Speculative fear, on the other hand, lacks evidence from any means of knowledge. It is not based on necessity, deduction, or a testimony from a trustworthy source. It is merely an assumption or expectation without proof, and thus it does not justify nullifying obligations. Examples include fear of attending Friday prayers because it might attract the attention of Islam’s enemies, or avoiding the mosque due to a possible infection, or not wearing the ḥijāb because it might attract attention or feel different. This is all speculative fear that does not invalidate the obligation, as Allāh says: “Indeed, assumption avails not against the truth at all.” [An-Najm, 53:28], meaning it does not affect what is established by certainty.

In the two Ṣaḥiḥayn, Abū Hurayrah reported that the Prophet said: “Beware of suspicion, for suspicion is the falsest of speech.”

Therefore, an accountable Muslim woman obligated to wear the ḥijāb should not abandon it due to speculative fears and unfounded possibilities.

Fatwa issued by Dr. Khālid Naṣr