: ‘and let them draw their head coverings over their chests’ . . . The next morning, they stood behind the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace, wrapped in their coverings as though crows were perched upon their heads.” Narrated by Ibn Abī Hātim.)

Weak in this full form and context. I explained its flaw in the source cited earlier. Part of it, however, is authentic according to al-Bukhārī, as noted just above, and another part is corroborated by the hadith of Umm Salama, who said: When the verse, “to draw their outer garments over themselves,” was revealed, the women of the Ansār came out in cloaks that made it seem as though crows were upon their heads. Abū Dāwūd narrated it with an authentic chain of transmission.

Note ۞ Every young woman must know that drawing her head covering over her head, neck, and chest is one of the many requirements she must not neglect to observe and put into practice. One such requirement, for example, is wearing the outer garment over the head covering. Most Muslim young women who otherwise cover themselves—including some who claim to be engaged in Islamic outreach and some whose husbands are Islamic preachers!!!—content themselves with wearing the head covering without an outer garment over it, thinking that this alone is required. This is a widespread error that they have followed one another in making. They are encouraged in this by the silence of the scholars and by how few of them remind these women of it.

It would have been better if the author—may Allah Most High preserve him—had at least reminded them here of the verse concerning the outer garment, just as he cited the verse concerning the head covering:

“O Prophet, tell your wives, your daughters, and the women of the believers to draw their outer garments over themselves.”

Indeed, he ought to have treated the subject of both verses at greater length, because women urgently need to know Allah’s ruling in this regard, particularly the verse concerning the outer garment. Most Muslim women who otherwise cover themselves have neglected it, let alone those who do not. This is especially so given that he devoted a separate chapter to “The Muslim Woman’s Clothing” (p. 74). I do not know why he did not discuss it there at all, even though that was its appropriate place and the subject is extremely important. He likewise did not discuss the imitation of unbelievers in dress and other matters, despite its importance as well. I discussed the issue of the outer garment, and the necessity that a woman combine it with the head covering when she leaves her home, in some detail in my book The Muslim Woman’s Hijab, and there I responded to—