by taking away the scholars; and when no scholar remains, the people will appoint ignorant heads. They will be asked and will issue rulings without knowledge (in another wording: according to their own opinion), thus they go astray and lead others astray.” Agreed upon; this wording and the alternate version are both in al-Bukhari (no. 68 in the Mukhtaṣar al-Bukhari). If you wish, consult Fath al-Bārī (13/282–290), where Ibn Ḥajar explains the ḥadīth in detail, lists its benefits, and makes clear that the “ignorant heads” are in fact the muqallids (blind imitators). What we see in most Muslim lands today—including the issue before us—is a living confirmation of this authentic ḥadīth. Allah’s help is sought.

I say further:
Had those imitators possessed even a modicum of knowledge, they would not have made it obligatory for women to veil their faces out of fear that men might be tempted by them, while admitting that the basic rule permits a woman to remain unveiled. They should rather have said: “If a woman fears that some wicked men might harm her because she is unveiled, then she should cover her face as a preventive measure.” Had they said that, it would have been acceptable fiqh. But to impose face-covering on all women, at all times and in every place, is to legislate what Allah has sent down no authority for. Small wonder that no scholar of Islam has ever espoused such a view; on the contrary, they have affirmed its opposite, as we have already cited from Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, al-Nawawī, Ibn Mufliḥ, and other prominent authorities. ⦗142⦘