This question is based on various fatwas that I have read on this website, so I request you to personally answer me in detail and clarify. The subject of my query is the hijab, and specifically the outergarment for women. In fatwa #296476, you clearly outline the conditions of a Muslim woman's hijab and define the 'jilbab' as an outergarment, meanwhile stating, "A Muslim woman in the present day may wear any type of clothing as long as it is loose fitting (not defining the contours of the body) and non-transparent, and it meets all the requirements of the Islamic Hijaab." Additionally, in fatwa #270067, it is stated, "It should be noted that the Muslim woman's Jilbaab does not refer to a specific type of clothing, but there are specific conditions that should be met for the Jilbaab to be approved in Islam. If these conditions are met, then the dress is therewith a Jilbaab and lawful to be worn outdoors." However, the explanation of Surah An-Nur, verse 60 on your site in the article, 'Tabarruj (Unlawful Exposure of Beauty) – I', it states that the verse permits only older women to put aside their outergarments (which automatically would imply that younger women MUST use the outergarment). So my doubts are the following: 1. Is the outergarment 'fard'? Or is it only 'fard' when one's regular clothes do not meet the sharia-approved hijab requirements? 2. If a woman may wear any clothing provided that it meets the requirements, does this refer to her outergarments, which can be an abayah or a wrap or something similar, or does it mean that she can wear any clothing, such as skirts, 'salwar kameez', and so on, in public as long as the chosen clothing meets the requirements of the hijab? 3. Would it be sinful for a young Muslim woman to observe hijab without an outergarment in regular clothes that meet the hijab requirements? Kindly clarify with a personal answer.

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The description and conditions of the Islamic hijab are as we have underlined on our website. The sharee'ah does not enjoin a fixed style of dress that the Muslim woman must wear. Rather, there are conditions that should be met for a given clothing to be approved by the sharee'ah. The Muslim woman is not obliged to wear an outer garment if the clothes that she is wearing duly conceal her body (and meet the conditions of the Islamic hijab) and there is no harm on her for wearing such modest clothing outdoors, even if she wears no outer garment over it.

If the conditions of the Islamic hijab are met in the skirt and the traditional Pakistani dress (salwar kameez), then there is no religious impediment for the Muslim woman to wear such clothes in public places before non-mahram (marriageable) men. However, skirts usually do not meet the hijab requirements as they may be somehow tight and outline the body, for instance.

We hope that this is a satisfying answer to your inquiry so that you do not ask any further questions regarding this particular topic. We have received similar questions from you before on the same topic and we believe that the answers were clear enough.

Allaah knows best.