Thus, the “apparent adornment” refers to the jewellery or clothing a woman is wearing: if something of it shows unintentionally she is not held accountable, but if she purposely exposes it she bears a sin and it is forbidden for her to do so. Allah says, “except what ordinarily appears thereof,” meaning what becomes visible without intent.

With regard to letting the khimar hang, in His words, “and let them draw their khimars over their bosoms” (al-Nūr 24:31), the matter is exactly as the questioner described: the woman lets her khimar—that is, her head-cover—fall over her face and her throat. She lowers it from the top of her head so that it covers her face and the upper part of her chest, contrary to the practice of the pre-Islamic period, when women would uncover their throats and chests and let the khimar fall behind their backs, as the books of exegesis relate. Allah, exalted be He, commanded Muslim women to draw their khimars over their bosoms; the jayb is the front opening of the garment at the top of the chest. This command therefore requires a woman to cover her face and throat, leaving no part of her body visible, for the face is the greatest of a woman’s adornments, the focus of people’s gaze, the place of temptation, and the centre of beauty and charm.

Accordingly, the correct interpretation of the noble verse is that the face must be veiled, even though some scholars allow the uncovering of the face and hands. Every statement, however, is taken or left except that of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and this permissive view is not in harmony with the flow of the verse or with the explanations given by the leading scholars among the Companions and the Successors. Indeed, when ʿUbaydah al-Salmānī asked ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them both) about the meaning of His words, “to draw their outer garments around them” (al-Aḥzāb 33:59), Ibn ʿAbbās pulled his cloak over his own face, leaving only one eye visible with which to see the road—his practical exegesis of the verse.