Question :
Is it permissible for a woman who wears Jilbab to put on sandals, showing her toes, when going out?
The Answer :
All perfect praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds. May His peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.
According to Muslim scholars, in the presence of non-Mahram men (Marriageable men), the whole body of a woman is Awrah except the face and the hands. This is attested to in the following verse: "And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband’s fathers, their sons, their husbands’ sons, their brothers or their brothers’ sons, or their sisters’ sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O ye Believers! turn ye all together towards God, that ye may attain Bliss." {An-Nur, 31}. Shaykh Al-Islam Zakariya Al-Ansari says: "A free woman`s Awrah-when going out of house or in the presence of non-Mahram men-is her whole body except the face and the hands- form both sides-as indicated by the above verse: "And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof…….". Ibn Abbas along with other scholars stated that the woman`s face and the hands are excluded because there is a need to uncover them, however, looking at them is forbidden to prevent sedition." {Asna al-Matalib, vol.1/pp.176}.
Consequently, it is forbidden for you (Asker) to show any part of your feet in the presence of non-Mahram men, and, as indicated from your question, you are keen on keeping the Islamic dress, so continue with this attitude and may Allah Reward you with all that is good. And Allah The Almighty Knows Best.
