Al-Radd al-Mufhim - Nasir al-Din al-Albani - (51)

4 – The same understanding has been handed down from some of Ibn ʿAbbās’s own students—such as Saʿīd ibn Jubayr. He explained idnāʾ (bringing down) as “placing the qināʿ (outer veil) over the khimār (head-covering)” and declared: “It is not permissible for a Muslim woman to be seen by a non-maḥram man unless the qināʿ is worn over the khimār and she has fastened it firmly around her head and throat.” This statement will appear again later in the book (p. 85).

Abū Bakr al-Jassāṣ cites much the same wording in his Aḥkām al-Qurʾān (3/372), transmitting it from Mujāhid together with Ibn ʿAbbās: “When she goes out, a free woman covers her forehead and her head.” Mujāhid was among those who learned Qurʾānic exegesis directly from Ibn ʿAbbās.

That reading was then received from Mujāhid by his pupil and transmitter Qatādah—may Allah have mercy on them all—who, commenting on idnāʾ, said: “Allah has bound them, whenever they go out, to lower the veil so that it covers the eyebrows.”

(1) This report reaches us from Ahmad through two of his own teachers: Yahya ibn Sa id and Ruh—namely, Ibn Ubadah. The wording I have adopted is that of Yahya. Ruh, however, diverged and added an extra phrase. When asked, “What does ‘and do not strike with it’ mean?” he replied, “She gathers it and strikes with it against her face while it is hanging down over her face.” This is an irregular addition that cannot stand, because Yahya was a mountain of memory. Ahmad said of him: “In Basra, the limit of meticulous verification ends with him,” and, “He is more reliable than those others,” meaning Ibn Mahdi and the like. When you compare that testimony with Ahmad’s milder verdict on Ruh—“there was nothing wrong with him”—the qualitative gap between them is obvious; hence Ruh’s addition cannot outweigh Yahya’s version. Al-Tuwijri overlooked this distinction, preferred Ruh’s narration, and used it as proof—an indication of the limits of his expertise in this discipline. [51]

٤ - أنه المنقول عن بعض تلامذة ابن عباس رضي الله عن هـ كسعيد بن جبير فإنه فسر الإدناء: بوضع القناع على الخمار وقال: لا يحل لمسلمة أن يراها غريب إلا أن يكون عليها القناع فوق الخمار وقد شدت بها رأسها ونحرها وسيأتي في الكتاب (ص ٨٥) وذكر نحوه أبو بكر الجصاص في " أحكام القرآن " (٣ / ٣٧٢) عن مجاهد أيضا مقرونا مع ابن عباس: تغطي الحرة إذا خرجت جبينها ورأسها ومجاهد ممن تلقي تفسير القرآن عن ابن عباس رضي الله عن هـ ثم تلقاه عن مجاهد قتادة رحمهم الله تعالى فإنه من تلامذته والرواة عنه فقال في تفسير (الإدناء) : أخذ الله عليهن إذا خرجن أن يقنعن على الحواجب

(١) رواه عن أحمد عن شيخين له: يحيى بن سعيد وروح - وهو ابن عبادة - واللفظ ليحيى وخالفه روح فزاد زيادة لما سئل: وما " ولا تضرب به "؟ فقال: " تعطفه وتضرب به على وجهها كما هو مسدول على وجهها " وهذه زيادة شاذة لا تصح لأن يحيى جبل في الحفظ قال أحمد: " إليه المنتهى في التثبت في البصرة ". وقال: " هو أثبت من هؤلاء ". يعني: ابن مهدي وغيره. فإذا قابلت هذه الشهادة منه بقوله وفي روح: " لم يكن به بأس " عرفت الفرق بينهما ولم تقبل زيادته على يحيى ولم يدر التويجري هذا الفرق ورجح رواية روح واحتج بها ذلك مبلغه من العلم بهذا الفن [٥١]