—and he had already been killed. One of the Prophet’s Companions remarked to her: “You have come to ask about your son while wearing a niqab (face veil)?” She replied, “If I must suffer the loss of my son, I will not suffer the loss of my modesty.” The Messenger of Allah said, “Your son will receive the reward of two martyrs.” She asked, “And why is that, O Messenger of Allah?” He answered, “Because he was killed by the People of the Book.” This wording is an explicit indication of the virtue of the niqab: she regarded it as an expression of modesty and the Prophet approved her action. Even so, we cannot cite this report as evidence, for al-Bukhari says: “This Abd al-Khabir—from whom Faraj ibn Fadala narrates—his hadith is not reliable; Faraj reports munkar narrations.” Abu Hatim al-Razi likewise states: “The hadith of Abd al-Khabir is not reliable; he is munkar al-hadith,” as quoted in al-Mundhiri’s Mukhtasar, 3/359. A similar story is found in the biography of Ubayd ibn Umayr al-Makki in al-Ajli’s al-Thiqat, p. 322 (Beirut): “There was a beautiful woman in Mecca who had a husband. One day she looked at her face in the mirror and said to her husband, ‘Do you think anyone could look at this face and not be tempted?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ She asked, ‘Who?’ He said, ‘Ubayd ibn Umayr.’ She said, ‘Then permit me to tempt him!’ He said, ‘I permit you.’ She went to him and sought a legal ruling; he withdrew with her to a corner of the Sacred Mosque, and she uncovered a face like a slice of the full moon. He said to her, ‘Servant of Allah, fear Allah…’ ” Note: The “face” referred to here is what was defined earlier (p. 41) and as is standard in the books of fiqh: from the hairline to the bottom of the chin, and from one earlobe to the other.