Does a woman/girl who covers herself unwillingly gain thawabs?

- Does a woman/girl who covers herself and wears a headscarf unwillingly and due to the pressure of her family gain thawabs?
- Is niyyah not important? What is the use of covering oneself by force?

Dear Brother / Sister,

- Niyyah is essential in deeds. Something that is not done for Allah in religion is of no use. 

However, it is useful for a woman who covers herself unwillingly due to pressure because she is protected from sins caused by going out uncovered. There is no doubt it is a very good and useful thing to be protected from sins all the time caused by going out uncovered. 

Besides, there are some things that can be a means of attaining religious sensitivity in the future even though there is no sincere intention at the beginning. There are hadiths ordering a child who is ten years old to perform prayers – even though he does not want to. An important reason for this is to enable the child to gain the habit of worshipping and to assume a sensitivity toward prayer gradually.

- However, the real issue is to discover the mood of a believing woman who does not want to cover herself. It is necessary to find the reasons why a woman who believes in Allah and the Day of Judgment prefers to go out uncovered.

For instance, if a woman does not have a sincere belief, it is necessary to strengthen her belief first before covering her body and head.

If she believes that covering one’s head is not fard in Islam - due to some ideas suggested to her -, it is necessary to inform her about the issue with verses and hadiths.

To sum up, if this desire to go out uncovered originates from ignorance, it is necessary to eliminate it with ilm (knowledge); if she knows that it is a sin but cannot control her soul, it is necessary to improve her - with a nice environment. For, there are four things that lead man to Hell: 

Love of the world, the evil called the soul, the delusions of Satan and the evil of a bad environment.

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