Senior Saudi Cleric Saleh Al-Fawzan: Husbands Must Force Wives to Wear the Hijab (Archival)

In response to a question posed to him, Sheikh Saleh Al-Fawzan, a member of the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars, said that the hijab was one of the means created by Allah to prevent adultery and that "the husband must make his wife wear it." Sheikh Al-Fawzan said this during a religious ruling show posted on the Internet on April 14, 2013. For a recent ruling by Sheikh Al-Fawzan forbidding taking selfies with cats, see MEMRI TV clip 5482.

Questioner: "Is a man allowed to force his wife to wear the niqab?"

Al-Fawzan: "Yes. [The Quran says]: 'Men are the guardians of women.' The husband must make his wife wear the hijab. Make her! This is part of 'commanding good and forbidding evil,' and it is part of the husband's guardianship of his wife. The hijab conceals and serves to prevent adultery. This is one of the means of caution created by Allah, in order to prevent adultery. Yes."