What is the ruling of wearing a turban without a topi? Is it true the Prophet censured women by mentioning that they are “deficient in religion.”?

1) What is the ruling of wearing a turban without a topi? Is it ok to do so, although one Hadith mentions about it being the practice of the Mushrikeen?

2) There is a Hadith that mentions that the Prophet (SAW) censured women by mentioning that they are “deficient in religion.” Please provide us a sound explanation about this, the Orientalists are driving us insane. 

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

1)     The ĥadīth in question is as follows:

قَالَ رُكَانَةُ:سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ: «إِنَّ فَرْقَ مَا بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَ المُشْرِكِينَ العَمَائِمُ عَلَى القَلَانِسِ» رواه أبو داود و الترمذي و اللفظ له في كتاب اللباس، باب في العمائم و قال الترمذي: هَذَا حَدِيثٌ غَرِيبٌ وَإِسْنَادُهُ لَيْسَ بِالقَائِمِ، وَلَا نَعْرِفُ أَبَا الحَسَنِ العَسْقَلَانِيَّ، وَلَا ابْنَ رُكَانَةَ

Rukānah (Radiallāhu ‘Anhu) said: I heard Rasoolullah Sallallāhu ‘Alaihi Wa Sallam saying, “Indeed the difference between us and the polytheists is (tying) turbans upon head gear.” (Al Tirmidhī and Abū Dāwood)

‘Ulamā have differed over the meaning of this ĥadīth. Mullā ‘Alī Al Qārī mentions in Mirqātul Mafātīh (vol.7 pg.2777, Dārul Fikr), “We tie our turbans upon the headgear and they only suffice upon turbans…” The great Muĥaddith of Hind, Mowlana Khalīl Aĥmad Saharanpūrī, has opted for the same explanation in his famous ĥadīth commentary on Sunan Abī Dawood, Badhlul Majhood (vol.12 pg.105, Darul Bashā’ir Al Islāmiyyah), “The meaning of the ĥadīth is that the polytheists would tie their turbans without having a headgear (topī) underneath. And we (Muslims) tie our turbans on the headgear.” Whilst other ‘Ulamā have said the ĥadīth means that Muslims wear turbans on the headgear, and wearing the head gear without a turban is the way of the polytheists.[1] Muhibb Al Dīn Al Tabarī has adopted the most permissive opinion in this issue. He mentions in Khulāŝatu Siyari Sayyid Al Bashar (pg.77, Dār Al Mawaddah), “He use to wear headgear under his turban, and headgear without a turban, and turban without headgear.” Al Imām Ibn Al Qayyim corroborates this view. He says in Zād Al Ma‘ād (vol.1 pg.130, Mu’assisah Al Risālah), “…He (Nabī Sallallāhu ‘Alaihi Wa Sallam) would wear the headgear without a turban and turban without headgear.”

Considering the variant narrations and views, Mawlānā Fazlur Rahmān Sāheb (Dāmat Barakātuhum) concludes the following: “…it would be appropriate to declare all the various manners permissible i.e. the turban only, as well as the topee without the turban. However there can be no doubt concerning the fact that the most superior practice is the wearing of both together.”[2]

2). The ĥadīth in question has been narrated in many major ĥadīth compilations[3]; the relevant portions of the ĥadīth are quoted below:

عَنْ عَبْدِ اللهِ بْنِ عُمَرَ، عَنْ رَسُولِ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَنَّهُ قَالَ يَا مَعْشَرَ النِّسَاءِ…مَا رَأَيْتُ مِنْ نَاقِصَاتِ عَقْلٍ وَدِينٍ أَغْلَبَ لِذِي لُبٍّ مِنْكُنَّ قَالَتْ: يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ، وَمَا نُقْصَانُ الْعَقْلِ وَالدِّينِ؟…قَال َتَمْكُثُ اللَّيَالِيَ مَا تُصَلِّي، وَتُفْطِرُ فِي رَمَضَانَ فَهَذَا نُقْصَانُ الدِّينِ (صحيح مسلم)

Narrated from ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar from Rasoolullāh Sallallāhu ‘Alaihi Wa Sallam that he said, “O women! …I have not seen anyone lacking in discernment and religion (dīn) more overwhelming to a man of wisdom than you.” They asked, “What is the deficiency in our discernment and religion?” He replied, “…she spends several nights without performing salāh and she misses fasts in Ramadān (both are due to menstruation); this is the deficiency of her religion.”  

Misunderstanding the purport of the prophetic statement, “nāqiŝātu ‘aql wa dīn” (deficient in discernment and religion) has caused a stir amongst Western scholarship. However, a brief glimpse in to the commentaries of ĥadīth collections written by the luminaries of Islam dispels all such criticisms.

Deficiency in religion merely means that the religious obligations of a woman in relation to a man are lesser. A woman in her menstrual cycle is not tasked with performing ŝalāh and fasting. Rather, it is forbidden for her to do so. In other words, a woman’s religious obligations are “deficient”, not her. This is similar to a person who is not required to discharge zakāh. His dīn is deficient in this aspect, though wealth comes from Allāh Ta‘ālā. In a famous ĥadīth of Saĥīĥ Muslim[4], the poor muhājireen Ŝaĥābah came to Nabī Sallallāhu ‘Alaihi Wa Sallam and complained, “The affluent have taken the lofty stages of Jannah!” Upon enquiry they explained, “They pray as we pray, they fast as we fast, however they give charity but we cannot, and they free slaves but we cannot (due to being poor).” Nabī Sallallāhu ‘Alaihi Wa Sallam asked, “Shall I not teach you something by virtue of which you may catch up to those who have gone ahead of you (in reward) and surpass those behind you?” They replied in the affirmative. Nabi Sallallāhu ‘Alaihi Wa Sallam said, “Make tasbīĥ, taĥmīd, and takbīr thirty three times at the end of every ŝalah.” After some time the poor muhājireen Ŝaĥābah returned and complained, “Our wealthy brothers heard of our action, so they started doing the same!” Nabī Sallallāhu ‘Alaihi Wa Sallam replied, “That is the grace of Allāh, He grants whomsoever He wishes.”

Furthermore, Al Imām Badrud Dīn Al ‘Ainī[5] has opined that a woman in the state of menses will be rewarded for leaving out ŝalāh on the bases of leaving out ĥarām (Meaning, it is ĥarām for a woman to perform ŝalāh in menses. Therefore, if she does not perform ŝalāh, she has left out a ĥarām action, for which she should be rewarded.).       

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Hisham Dawood

Student, Darul Iftaa
Chicago, USA

Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.

www.daruliftaa.net