Praise be to Allaah.
Your maternal uncle is considered to be a mahram for you, and
on this basis it is permissible for you to take off your hijab in front of
him. There is no report that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) ordered the Muslim women to observe hijaab in front of their
kaafir relatives.
But the scholars have mentioned that the relative in front of
whom the woman takes off her hijab should be trustworthy. This condition
applies to both Muslims and kaafirs.
They mentioned that in the context of women shaking hands
with or kissing their relatives. But if her mahram is not trustworthy in the
sense that he may describe her to others or be tempted by seeing her, then
she should observe hijab in front of him, regardless of whether he is a
Muslim or a kaafir. One of the unique opinions [mufridaat] of Imam Ahmad
(may Allaah have mercy on him) is that he stated that the mahram who
accompanies a Muslim woman when travelling must be a Muslim, but some of his
companions did not agree with him on this condition. The reason why he did
not allow a kaafir to be a mahram for travel purposes is that he is not
trustworthy, especially if he is a Magian. He stated that such a person
could not be a mahram for his mother because he thinks that it is
permissible to have intercourse with her! One of his companions stated that
a Jew or a Christian might sell his mother or kill her! If we look at these
reasons we will see that they could be applied to some evildoers among the
Muslims, so we can see that this is not a strong argument for the idea that
a kaafir cannot be counted as a mahram because of his being a kaafir. But
other considerations remain valid, such as his being trustworthy or
otherwise.
This has to with mahrams. In the case of non-mahrams who are
kaafirs, there was a difference of opinion among the scholars as to whether
it is permissible for a kaafir woman to see a Muslim woman. The most correct
opinion is that it is permissible, and the prohibition applies in cases
where one cannot be sure that the woman will not describe the Muslim woman
to others who are non-mahrams to her, whether that woman is a Muslim or a
kaafir.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthyameen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was
asked:
Is it permissible for a Muslim woman to uncover her hair in
front of a non-Muslim woman, especially if she will describe the Muslim
woman to men among her relatives who are not Muslim?
The answer was:
This issue is based on differences of scholarly opinion
concerning the interpretation of the aayah:
“And tell the believing women to lower their gaze (from
looking at forbidden things), and protect their private parts (from illegal
sexual acts) and not to show off their adornment except only that which is
apparent (like both eyes for necessity to see the way, or outer palms of
hands or one eye or dress like veil, gloves, headcover, apron), and to draw
their veils all over Juyoobihinna (i.e. their bodies, faces, necks and
bosoms) and not to reveal their adornment except to their husbands, or their
fathers, or their husband’s fathers, or their sons, or their husband’s sons,
or their brothers or their brother’s sons, or their sister’s sons, or their
women …”
[al-Noor 24:31]
The scholars differed as
to the meaning of the pronoun in the word nisaa’ihinna (their women).
Some of them said that what it referred to was the gender, i.e., women in
general. Some of them said that what it referred to was a specific type of
women, i.e., believing women only.
According to the first
view, it is permissible for a woman to uncover her hair and face in front of
a non-Muslim woman, and according to the second opinion it is not
permissible.
We are inclined towards
the first view, which is more likely to be correct, because when a woman is
with another woman there is no difference between a Muslim woman and a
non-Muslim woman. This is the case so long as there is no fitnah or
temptation. But if there is the fear of fitnah, such as the risk that she
may describe the Muslim woman to her male relatives, then it is essential to
take precautions against fitnah in that case, and she should not uncover any
part of her body such as her legs or hair in front of another woman,
regardless of whether she is Muslim or not.
And Allaah knows best.
Fataawa al-Mar’ah
al-Muslimah, 1/532, 533
And Allaah knows best.