one eye. The niqāb (face veil) is of the same kind, and women used to wear it. It is reported in al-Sahīh that a woman in the consecrated state of pilgrimage must neither wear a niqāb nor gloves.

Thus, if women were commanded to wear the jilbāb so that they would not be recognized—which means covering the face, or covering it with a niqāb—then the face and hands were among the adornments they were commanded not to display to men other than their husbands or mahrams (permanently unmarriageable relatives). Such men were therefore no longer permitted to look at anything but their outer clothing. Ibn Mas‘ūd thus referred to the later of the two stages, while Ibn ‘Abbās referred to the earlier one.

Accordingly, His words:

“Or their women, or those whom their right hands possess”

indicate that a woman may display her concealed adornment to her slave. There are two views concerning this. One is that it refers to female slaves, including female slaves from the People of the Book, as stated by Ibn al-Musayyib and preferred by Ahmad and others. The other is that it refers to a male slave, as stated by Ibn ‘Abbās and others; this is the other view reported from Ahmad.

The latter entails that a male slave may look at his mistress, and hadiths to this effect have been transmitted. This allowance is due to need, for her need to speak with her slave is greater than her need to see a witness, someone with whom she conducts transactions, or a suitor. If those men are permitted to look at her, then her slave has even greater grounds to do so.

Nothing in this, however, requires that he be a mahram who may travel with her. The same applies to men without sexual desire: they are permitted to look at her, but they are not mahrams who may travel with her. Not everyone who is permitted to look at her is permitted to travel with her or be alone with her. Rather, her slave may look at her because of need, even though he may neither be alone with her nor travel with her.