Some Hajj pilgrims can be careless whilst wearing Iḥrām and expose some parts of their Satr, such as the area under their navels, and parts of their knees and thighs. They must repent and be sure to avoid such carelessness in the future. Likewise, people who roam around in shorts exposing their entire knees and parts of their thighs must also learn from this and repent. They should neither become sinners nor invite others to commit the sin of unlawful gazing. If someone is wearing shorts, it is necessary for the other Muslim to refrain from looking at his uncovered knees or thighs.
Question: Please explain the rulings of Satr for women and what areas of their bodies must be concealed in Ṣalāĥ?
Answer: Baĥār-e-Sharī’at volume 1, part 3, page 481, published by Maktaba-tul-Madīnaĥ, states: For a free woman (the era of slavery has ended, so nowadays, all women are free) and for a hermaphrodite – i.e. one who has both male and female physical features, and can neither be declared to be a man nor a woman – the whole body is ‘Awrat (area of concealing), excluding the face, palms and soles. The hair hanging from her head, her neck and wrists are also ‘Awrat (and must be covered). It is Farḍ to cover these parts.
Some scholars have not included soles and the backs of the hands in the ‘Awrat (i.e. something that must be covered). If a woman offers Ṣalāĥ wearing a very thin scarf, which reveals the blackness of her hair, then her Ṣalāĥ will be invalid unless she covers it with something that conceals the colour of her hair etc. (Ibid, pp. 484)