Khimar (women's head covering in fiqh)

الخمار

Khimar derives from khamara, to cover; anything that covers a thing is its khimar, but the word is used for what a woman covers her head with; some jurists define it as what covers the head, the temples and the neck. ¹ Related words: hijab (covering, wider than khimar), qina' (a cloth a woman wraps about her head, and for some the cloth a man throws over his shoulder), niqab (for the face) and burqu' (for the face). ¹² A free woman is bound to wear a khimar, since her hair is awrah by agreement; the Quranic verse on drawing the khimar over the breast is cited, and Aisha said the thick khimar that covers is the one meant. ² Wiping the khimar in ablution: the Hanafis, Malikis and Shafiis do not accept wiping the khimar alone unless it is thin enough for water to reach the hair; the Hanbalis differ, the preferred view allowing it on the report of Umm Salama, and Ahmad in one report forbidding it. ²³ The khimar in prayer: covering a free adult woman's hair is a condition of prayer, and prayer without it is void, on the report that God accepts no prayer of a woman in menses without a khimar; the Hanafis repeat if a quarter of the head is left bare, the Malikis advise covering a girl, the Shafiis do not accept the prayer of a discerning girl without it, the Hanbalis do not require it of the non-adult. ³⁴ The khimar in pilgrim state: the free woman in ihram covers her head with what covers it fully and may not uncover what requires uncovering her face; all agree she may wear shirts, trousers and socks. ⁴⁵ The khimar in the shroud: the least shroud covers the body except the head of a man in ihram and the face of a woman in ihram; the preferred number for a woman is five pieces including a khimar; the Hanbalis shroud an unmarried girl in two wraps and a shirt without a khimar. ⁵