Does a woman get extra reward for covering her feet and hands when leaving the house?

In the name of Allah the Beneficent

Before I answer your question I would like to point out that all the four imams the Sahaabah the scholars of the past and many of the present are all great and learned in their own right. I believe Imaam Abu Hanifa Rahmatullahalaai to be amongst these great and awe-aspiring personalities the same way that you do, but at the same time I also love and respect the other imams and Scholars of the past.

Now, in reply to your question, it is not Fardh (obligatory) for a lady to cover her hands or feet whilst wearing the Hijaab and Nikaab. She may keep both of them open or covered as she so wishers. But it is important to take the following points into consideration.

Rasullulah Sallallahu Alaihi Wassalam has said ?Actions are according to intention??. Hadhrat Anwar Shaa Kasmiri Rahmatullahalaai writes in this book Anwarul Bari that this Hadith is saying that the ?reward? for the action is according to the intention.

Hence it would be more so with which intention you are covering your hands and feet with and it light of this even though the action is not fardh you will be obtaining a reward for doing so. In this aspect it would be considered Mustahab.

It would be Mustahab to do so in some situations such as, it could be that the lady’s hands have mendi (henna) patterns drawn on to them, and she might want to wear gloves outside the house so that a Ghair Mahram does not look at her patterned hand and consequently stare at her.

Or it could be that she is wearing some form of jewellery for her husband, she may want to wear gloves in public to hide what is meant for her husband from the gaze of strangers. Or this could be done to hide general jewellery which a spinster would wear so to stop men staring at her. In both situations wearing gloves would not attract the unwanted attention of the onlooker.

In answer to wheather to cover the feet, again this is not fardh but if the jilbaab is worn correctly then most or all of the feet will be covered due to the length of the garment. The same possible reasons mentioned for covering the hands will also apply here. Before I conclude I will mentioned a brief Tafseer of a relevant Ayah here:

?And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their ZINAT (beauty and ornaments) except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof;??
(Surah An-Noor, Ayah 31)

In regards to the above mentioned Ayah Hadhrat Maulana Idris Kandhalvi writes in his Tafseer ?Maariful Quran? in relation to the word ?Zinat?:

?Zinat means beatification, whether it is natural such as the hands and body, or artificial and intentional such as, clothes, jewellery and even make-up, hence all of these form the apparent beauty of women. All of these things should be concealed from everyone except the Mahaarim?. (Maariful Quran, Vol 5 )

In conclusion I would say that the choice is up to the individual Muslim lady. It is not Fardh (obligatory) but with the right intention at heart it certainly will accumulate reward for the one wearing it. In some situations it would be advisable and recommended for a lady to cover her hands and feet. But this will be to the discretion of the individual.

And Allah knows best
7 August 2005

————————————–
Mufti Abubakr Karolia
Batley, U.K
Founder of the “Islamic Foundation for Theology and Research” (I.F.T.A.R)