Can beautiful males wear niqab?

Question

In Quran we can see yusuf (a.s) was very beautiful and was attacked by his master's wife. Now we can see news report of women raping men, so can beautiful males wear niqaab to prevent getting attacked by women ?

Answer 1

All humans wear some kind of Hijab, including men. “provided you with clothing to cover your bodies, and for luxury” (Quran 7:26), women’s Hijab is branched from a mutual origin. However, it’s obviously more sever than what men’s Satr part, I think that this is due to:

Unlike men, women rarely get arousal by opposite gender naked parts

In the famous Kinsey study the majority of the women sample were not erotically aroused by their observations.¹ Kinsey’s reports confirmed generally that men are much more likely to get arousal by visuals².

Although Gunter Schmidt and Volkmar Sigusch and Fred Klein study³ was published to contradict the data from Kinsey’s report, it reported too that women are less aroused by visuals, however, they are more aroused than men with the use of erotic literature, this were also the same results reported by a survey study in 1977,⁴ in which women were reportedly aroused by text and voice intimate media more that visuals, unlike men.

Another 1979 survey study⁵ showed that the majority of women themselves report that they do not enjoy male nudity. Here’s the results from page 479:

thus; we notice that men-raping incidents are much lower than women’s

According to the US’ National Sexual Violence Resource Center,⁶ “One in five women and one in 71 men will be raped at some point in their lives”. The difference is obvious.

Biologically, men are much more physically stronger than women

Probably this does not need citations to prove, men’s abilities make them able to defend themselves more than most mature women.

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I personally believe that for those reasons women are in need of protection more than men. There will be always some odds (for example the few percent of men who get raped), however, this should not affect the general rule.

References

¹ Alfred C. Kinsey et al., Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (Philadelphia: Saunders, 1953).

² Note that Kinsey’s reports had many controversies, some of which are highly subjective

³ Gunter Schmidt, Volkmar Sigusch, and Fred Klein, “Sex Differences in Responses to Psychosexual Stimulation by Films and Slides,” The Journal of Sex Research 6, no. 4 (1970): 268–83, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3811905.

⁴ Patricia Gillan and Christopher Frith, “Male-Female Differences in Response to Erotica,” Love and Attraction, 1979, 461–64.

⁵ Mark Cook and Glenn Wilson (Eds.), Love and Attraction. An International Conference, 1st ed. (Pergamon Press, 1979), 479, https://libgen.li/file.php?md5=5b2523267d7af0c8edc638da72372f56.

⁶ M. C. Black et al., “The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2010 Summary Report” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 2011), http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/pdf/NISVS_Report2010-a.pdf.

Answer 2

From an islamic standpoint, the reason the niqab is either recommended or required for women (depending on the interpretation) but not for men is that there is no directive from the Quran and Sunnah that instructs men to cover their faces for modesty.

There are several hadiths that indicate that the Mothers of the Believers (the Prophet ﷺ's wives) and the female companions covered their faces. In contrast, there is no such precedent among the male companions of the Prophet ﷺ.

In the Quran, Surah al-Nur (24:30-31) instructs men to lower their gaze and guard their chastity. The directive for women includes not only lowering the gaze, and guarding chastity, but also covering their charms; as Allah ta'ala says:

"Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that will make for greater purity for them: And Allah is well acquainted with all that they do. 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 appears thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers..."

Of course, as is well-known, the scholars have differed regarding the extent of covering required by this verse and similar verses. Some believe the hijab should cover everything except the face and hands, while others have understood this as covering the entire body including the face and the hands. This difference in interpretation dates back to the time of the Prophet ﷺ's companions.

As to why there are stricter covering requirements for women, this could be attributed to several factors; some of which could be the following:

1. Men and women experience attraction differently. Men tend to be more visually stimulated; they are often more drawn to physical appearances. This is why the Islamic guidelines for women emphasise covering the body. Women, in contrast, tend to be attracted by a wider context that includes a man's character, behaviour, and social or material status. On average, physical attractiveness is more important to men than women.

2. Women tend to be more reserved in matters of attraction. When a woman is attracted to a man, she still prefers to be approached rather than actively pursuing the man. In contrast, when a man is attracted to a woman, it is more likely for him to pursue the woman. Therefore, in the case of a man being attracted to a woman, there is a higher likelihood of subsequent haram interaction or action than vice versa.

3. Women tend to be physically more vulnerable than men which also means they need more protection. In most cases, it is easier for a man to defend himself against harm than it is for a woman.

4. Men and women have different social roles. Men are the protectors and providers for their families; whereas women have no such responsibility. A woman's main responsibility is to take care of the home and family. Given these roles, it is more practical for women (who are expected to spend more time at home) to observe the veil than it is for men (who are expected to engage in more public and external roles).

As to whether it is permissible for a man to cover his face: Covering the face (or part of the face) is permissible in principle, especially if it is done for a practical reason; such as wearing a motorcycle helmet, or a surgical mask. However, wearing the niqab (or similar clothing that is worn customarily only by women) is not permissible for men, as this would come under men imitating women, which is in principle forbidden in Islam.

Answer 3

I did some research and I am posting my answer so it can be helpful to others.

Niqaab (a face clothing that covers nose and mouth) can be worn by any gender if he or she fears some attack, it can be from opposite gender or micro organism like virus. Now after COVID, people are used to wearing masks (just like niqaab but with more protection against micro organism) , so it is now easier for anyone to wear niqaab. I know of instances where males were touched by females without permission in crowded places and I think wearing niqaab or mask can reduce this type of attacks.