Hijab in the Light of the Quran and Hadith

HIJAB IN ISLAM displaces the covering sheet momentarily, this is deemed excusable. The other point of view finds support from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar, ‘Ata,’ ‘Ikrima, Sa‘id ibn Jubayr, Abu ash-Sha’tha,’ Dahhak, Ibrahim Nakh‘i, etc. They infer from the Quranic phrase, “what is normally apparent thereof” (24:31), the exemption of face and hands. This interpretation is based on the tradition recorded by Abu Dawud in his Sunan: Aisha says that once Asma bint Abu Bakr came wearing a thin garment. The Prophet turned his face away from her and said: “Asma, it is not proper for a woman after having reached puberty to expose any part of her body except these.” Then he pointed to his hands and face. (Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith No. 4104) That is why there are two theological schools of thought. The Hanafis and Malikis believe that the face and hands are not to be covered, while the followers of Imam Shafi‘i and Hanbali maintain that a woman has to be entirely veiled. In this view, natural and acquired beauty have to be entirely veiled. It is unlawful for a woman to unveil any part of her body when she goes out. To them, what is exempted is that which gets exposed unintentionally. They will be excused for that. Thus, the face and the hands are the parts that are forbidden to be exposed unnecessarily. (Muhammad ‘Ali as-Sabuni, Rawai‘ al-Bayan, [Beirut, 1980], 2/155) Maulana Shabbir Ahmad ‘Usmani gives the following commentary pertaining to this verse of the Quran: