Question 697 - The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 7

Ahmed al-Hasan Response:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, the Imams and the Mahdis, and grant them peace. Regarding hijab, it is a religious obligation, and a woman must observe the limits of religious hijab that I explained previously. If she does not observe them, she commits what is forbidden, and consequently effects in the Hereafter and this world will follow from this violation of the limits of Allah, Glorious and Exalted. A husband is obligated to command and guide his wife to observe hijab and its religious limits, but he is not obligated to divorce his wife if she does not observe religious hijab. Likewise, a woman may not apply perfume if there is a possibility that she will be present in, or pass through, a place where men who are not close unmarriageable relatives are present. Indeed, some perfumes contain substances for sexual arousal, so it is not fitting for a respectable woman to apply them outside her bedroom, because they are specifically for arousing the husband. As for shoes with a high heel or of a particular color, there is no problem in wearing them; it is permissible and there is no problem with it. As for tight clothing, what is impermissible is for the clothing to be so tight that it describes the details of a woman’s body.