Is It Sinful for Me To Step Out With My Family Members Who Don’t Wear Hijab?

Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad

Question

I heard one sheikh say if I go out with a family member or relative who doesn’t wear a hijab I will be sinful. Nowadays it’s very difficult because no one in my family or extended family covers properly and I have to go out sometime with them. Also, I have to visit their house. But Allah says that no one will carry another’s sin, so I’m confused a bit. I hope you can give me some advice regarding this. I live in the UK where it is very difficult to avoid this.

Answer

Assalamu alaykum,

Thank you for your question. Ma sha Allah, may Allah reward you for your sincerity and concern, and always keep you that way.

Telling women to cover

The best advice that I can give you when you are visiting female cousins and the like who do not cover is here:

https://seekers.flywheelstaging.com/answers/family-ties/should-i-go-to-a-family-gathering-where-my-cousin-will-be-without-hijab/

https://seekers.flywheelstaging.com/answers/general-counsel/how-can-i-convince-my-family-members-to-wear-the-hijab/

Going out with uncovered women

As for going out with women who don’t cover, you are not directly responsible or sinful for this, as long as they know the obligation of hijab and are choosing themselves not to follow it. You should just make sure that they do indeed know about it. A more fruitful approach to the situation is to show good character, kindness, service, such that they associate Islam with goodness and come to love it. This will go a long way and touch those that you don’t even know are being touched.

May Allah give you the best of this world and the next. 

[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad  

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria, for two years, where she studied aqidah, fiqh, tajweed, Tafseer, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she completed her Master’s in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan, where she studied fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She recently moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.