Ḥijāb al-Marʾah wa-Libāsuhā fī al-Ṣalāh - Ibn Taimiya - (16)

whatever is on the face and hands, such as kohl and rings. On the basis of these two interpretations the jurists differed about looking at a woman to whom one is not related (a non-maḥram).

One position states that it is permissible, provided there is no desire, to look at her face and hands. This is the view of Abū Ḥanīfa and al-Shāfiʿī and one reported view in the school of Aḥmad.

Another position maintains that it is not permissible. This is the apparent view of Aḥmad—who said: “Every part of her is ʿawrah, even the tip of her finger”—and it is also the position of Mālik.

In reality, Allah has classified adornment into two categories: outward adornment and hidden adornment. He has allowed her to display her outward adornment to those other than her husband and her close male relatives (maḥrams), whereas her hidden adornment she may reveal only to her husband and her maḥrams.

Before the verse of veiling was revealed, women used to go out without a jilbāb; men could see their faces and hands. At that time she was permitted to uncover her face and palms, and consequently it was lawful to look at her, since she was allowed to show them.1

(1) I say: The apparent meaning of this passage, together with what follows, is that the verse was revealed specifically concerning the covering of the face and hands. The scholar al-Mawdudi was misled by this and stated in his book *The Hijab* (p. 366), after citing the verse from Surat al-Ahzab: “It was revealed specifically concerning the covering of the face.” I have mentioned what may have served as his basis for this view—and which is itself a weak basis—in my book *The Hijab of the Muslim Woman*. There I demonstrated that its chain of transmission is very weak; see p. 41.

مثل الكحل والخاتم. وعلى هذين القولين تنازع الفقهاء في النظر إلى المرأة الأجنبية. فقيل: يجوز النظر لغير شهوة إلى وجهها ويديها وهو مذهب أبي حنيفة والشافعي وقول في مذهب أحمد. وقيل: لا يجوز وهو ظاهر مذهب أحمد قال: كل شيء منها عورة حتى ظفرها وهو قول مالك. وحقيقة الأمر: أن الله جعل الزينة زينتين: زينة ظاهرة وزينة غير ظاهرة وجوز لها إبداء زينتها الظاهرة لغير الزوج وذوي المحارم وأما الباطنة فلا تبديها إلا للزوج وذوي المحارم. وكانوا قبل أن تنزل آية الحجاب كان النساء يخرجن بلا جلباب يرى الرجل وجهها ويديها وكان إذ ذاك يجوز لها أن تظهر الوجه والكفين وكان حينئذ يجوز النظر إليها لأنه يجوز لها إظهاره١.

١ قلت: ظاهر هذا الكلام مع الذي بعده أن الآية نزلت في ستر الوجه واليدين خاصة وقد اغتر بذلك العلامة المودودي فقال في كتاب "الحجاب" "ص ٣٦٦" بعد أن ساق آية الأحزاب: نزلت خاصة في ستر الوجه! وقد ذكرت ما يمكن أن يكون مستنده في ذلك وهو مستند ضعيف أيضا في كتابي "حجاب المرأة المسلمة" وبينت فيه أن إسناده ضعيف جدا فراجعه "ص ٤١"