A niqab is said to be useful (5)
I believe the answer is:
avail
'be useful' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'a niqab is said' is the wordplay.
'niqab' becomes 'veil' (the niqab is a veil worn by some Muslim women).
'is said' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'veil' sounds like 'vail'.
'a'+'vail'='AVAIL'
'to' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for avail that I've seen before include "Be of value to" , "Be of service to" , "See 3" , "Be of help or advantage" , "Help, benefit" .)