Question:
Assalamualaikum wbt, is the prayer of a woman valid if she realized that a single strand of her hair slipped out from her telekung and is visible after prayer?
Answer:
Alhamdulillah, praise and thanks to Allah for the countless blessings He has blessed us all with. Blessings and salutations to the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, his wives, his family, companions and all those that follow his teachings to the day of judgement.
Covering aurah is one of the valid conditions of prayer. If accidently some part of the aurah is uncovered during prayer, then it is obligatory to quickly cover it again. If someone is distracted during his prayer and let his aurah in uncovered state without quickly covering it again, then his prayer is invalid. However, if he quickly covers it again, then his prayer is valid and he can continue with his prayer. Refer: al-Fiqh al-Manhaji (1/124) ; al-Taqrirat al-Sadidah (pg. 206)
Aurah for a man in prayer is between his navel and his knees, while for a woman, it is her entire body with the exception of her face and hands (palms up to the wrists). Hair is a part of the obligatory aurah for a woman and it is obligatory for it to be covered during prayer. This is stated in a hadith from Aisyah R.Anha, where the Prophet PBUH said:
لَا تُقْبَلُ صَلَاةُ الحَائِضِ إِلَّا بِخِمَارٍ
"The Salat of a woman who has reached the age of menstruation is not accepted without a Khimar."
Sunan Abu Daud, al-Tirmizi (377) and al-Hakim. Al-Tirmizi state that the hadith is hasan and al-Hakim state that the hadith is authentic according to the conditions set by Muslim.
Imam al-Syirazi commented on the above hadith: “Then if the aurah is exposed, when he is able to cover it, his prayer is invalid.”
Imam al-Nawawi commented on it saying: “The prayer is invalid whether only a small part or a large part of the aurah is exposed… and if someone prayed covering his aurah but after some time after prayer he realized his clothing is torn and his aurah is clearly visible, then it is obligatory for him to repeat his prayer according to the madhab (al-Syafie), whether he knows or forgot or didn’t know about the tear beforehand. There is a difference of opinion regarding if someone prayed with najis while he didn’t know or forgot about it. If there is a possibility that the tear happens during the time after he had finished his prayer, then it is unnecessary for him to repeat his prayer (the agreed opinion), the same as with the ruling for najis.” Refer: al-Majmu` Syarh al-Muhazzab (3/166).
From the above statement of Imam al-Nawawi, there are three wisdoms that we could learn from it:
- The prayer is invalid, if a small part or a large of the aurah is exposed.
- A person that realized his aurah is exposed after prayer must repeat his prayer.
- A person that realized his aurah is exposed after a duration of time after prayer, where there is a possibility that it happened after prayer, then his prayer is valid for it is analogically deduced (qiyas) with the situation of najis.
However, there are difference of opinions regarding this between the madhabs. We refer to al-Majmu’ to detail the following difference of opinions:
- Madhab Abu Hanifah: If a part of the aurah is exposed up to a fourth of it, then the prayer is still valid. If it is more than a fourth then the prayer is invalid. However, if the aurah is the private parts, if the exposed part is the size of a dirham (or approximately 20 cents), then his prayer is invalid. According to Abu Yusuf, even if the exposed part is half of the aurah, the prayer is still valid.
- Madhab Malik: Some of their scholars stated that covering one’s aurah is not a valid condition of prayer but just an obligation; whether the exposure of aurah is intentional or accidental. Majority of their scholars stated that covering the aurah is a valid condition of prayer if he remembers (did not forget) and is able to cover his aurah. If one forgets or is unable to cover his aurah, then the prayer is valid. This is the accepted opinion in their madhab.
- Madhab Hanbali: They categorized the aurah into minor and major aurah (private parts). If the exposed part is small, then the prayer is valid.
- Madhab al-Syafie: Referring to the above hadith from Aisyah, the covering of aurah is for all types of aurah. Hence, a specific ruling is unacceptable unless there is another evidence supporting it.
According to the above facts and statements, it is clear to us that according to madhab al-Syafie, the whole part of aurah is obligatory to be covered during prayer and if exposed, whether a small part of it or a large part of it, then it is obligatory for it to be quickly covered again; if not, then the prayer is invalid. Hence, even a small part of woman’s hair is exposed then it would still invalidate the prayer. This is a careful opinion to avoid the difference of opinions of scholars.
Whereas, the majority of the scholars stated that if just a small part of a woman’s hair is exposed, then it does not invalidate the prayer. We are inclined towards the opinion that state if the exposed part is too small according to the custom, then it does not invalidate prayer if it is exposed accidently, or it is unavoidable. We based this opinion from the hadith of Amr bin Salamah RA, where he said:
وَكُنْتُ غُلَامًا حَافِظًا فَحَفِظْتُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ قُرْآنًا كَثِيرًا فَانْطَلَقَ أَبِي وَافِدًا إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي نَفَرٍ مِنْ قَوْمِهِ فَعَلَّمَهُمُ الصَّلَاةَ فَقَالَ يَؤُمُّكُمْ أَقْرَؤُكُمْ وَكُنْتُ أَقْرَأَهُمْ لِمَا كُنْتُ أَحْفَظُ فَقَدَّمُونِي فَكُنْتُ أَؤُمُّهُمْ وَعَلَيَّ بُرْدَةٌ لِي صَغِيرَةٌ صَفْرَاءُ فَكُنْتُ إِذَا سَجَدْتُ تَكَشَّفَتْ عَنِّي فَقَالَتْ امْرَأَةٌ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ وَارُوا عَنَّا عَوْرَةَ قَارِئِكُمْ فَاشْتَرَوْا لِي قَمِيصًا عُمَانِيًّا فَمَا فَرِحْتُ بِشَيْءٍ بَعْدَ الْإِسْلَامِ فَرَحِي بِهِ فَكُنْتُ أَؤُمُّهُمْ وَأَنَا ابْنُ سَبْعِ سِنِينَ أَوْ ثَمَانِ سِنِينَ
“I was a boy with a good memory. From the (process) I memorized a large portion of the Qur’an. Then my father went to the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) along with a group of his clan. He (the Prophet) taught them prayer. And he said: The one of you who knows most of the Qur’an should act as your imam. I knew the Qur’an better than most of them because I had memorized it. They, therefore, put me in front of them, and I would lead them in prayer. I wore a small yellow mantle which, when I prostrated myself, went up on me, and a woman of the clan said: Cover the back side of your leader from us. So, they bought an ‘Ammani shirt for me, and I have never been so pleased about anything after embracing Islam as I was about that (shirt). I used to lead them in prayer and I was only seven or eight years old.
Sunan Abu Daud (585) and Sahih a-Bukhari (4302)
May this explanation give us better understanding and guidance for us in our worship. Amin.