al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Awsat and al-Kabir, and the chain contains a narrator whom I do not know.
I say: Ibn Saʿd likewise cited it in al-Tabaqat from his two shaykhs, ʿAbd al-ʿAziz ibn al-Khattab and Ismaʿil ibn Aban al-Warraq; both of them transmit from Naʾilah al-Kufiyyah, the freedwoman of Abu al-ʿIyazar, from Umm ʿAsim, from her.
I have not found anyone who mentioned this Naʾilah, whereas Umm ʿAsim is most probably the freedwoman of Salamah ibn al-Muhabbaq; she is classed as “maqbula” (acceptable) in al-Taqrib.
- ʿAʾishah reported: A woman stretched out her hand with a letter to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from behind a curtain. The Prophet ﷺ drew back his own hand and said, “I do not know whether this is the hand of a man or a woman.” She said, “It is a woman’s hand.” He replied, “If you were a woman you would have dyed your nails with henna.”
Abu Dawud, al-Nasaʾi, Ahmad, and al-Bayhaqi all recorded it through the path of Mutiʿ ibn Maymun al-ʿAnbari—known as Abu Saʿid—who said: “Safiyyah bint ʿIsmah related it to me from her.”
This isnad is lenient (i.e., somewhat weak).
These hadiths provide clear evidence that a woman’s palm is not ʿawrah, for the Prophet ﷺ looked at it and ordered that it be dyed with henna so that it might serve as one of the distinguishing marks between men and women. His ﷺ instruction thereby confirms that a woman may leave her hand uncovered.
There is also a report in this regard from Ibn ʿAbbas—may Allah be pleased with him. He was asked, “Did you attend the ʿId with the Prophet ﷺ?” He said, “Yes, and were it not for my young age I would not have been there, until he came to the banner that…"