Second, once the preceding discussion is understood, it is clear that the first hadith contradicts the other hadith. The reconciliation suggested by Ustadh al-Mawdudi would only be considered—if at all—when both reports fall under the category of accepted (maqbul) traditions; only then would the specialist be obliged to harmonize them, as is well known in the science of hadith methodology, especially in Hafiz Ibn Hajar’s Sharh al-Nukhbah. You have already seen that the second hadith is weak, whereas the first is acceptable because it has a fully connected corroborating report, namely the hadith of Asma that will appear on p. 57, and the juristic practice has followed it, as will be clarified shortly. Therefore there is no basis for reconciling the two reports for the reasons just mentioned. Third, the proposed reconciliation itself is, in my judgment, untenable and almost unintelligible. From where did the Ustadh obtain the qualifier “customary” (‘adah) for the first hadith and the qualifier “necessity or excuse” (hajah aw ‘udhr) for the second? Suppose a woman had an excuse to uncover her upper arm—or even her thigh—would that not be permissible? I am certain the Ustadh would answer in the affirmative, for he states as much in his book al-Hijab (see p. 399). Yet does not this very limitation he introduces effectively annul the explicit exception provided in the hadith? What is left of the hadith’s meaning if everything that is excepted is, by this added condition, treated as though it were included in the original prohibition? This clearly proves that the proposed reconciliation is invalid and that, owing to its weak chain, the second hadith conflicts with the sound first hadith and must therefore be rejected as munkar. It is also noteworthy that, by attaching the qualifier “customary” to the first hadith, Ustadh al-Mawdudi concedes that the hadith allows a woman to uncover her face as a matter of routine, whereas in al-Hijab he holds that the face is part of the woman’s ‘awrah. Indeed, he writes on pp. 365–66: “The verse, ‘…that they should draw their jilbabs over themselves’ (yudnina ‘alayhinna min jalabibihinna) was revealed specifically to cover the face!”