and it is also unrestricted with respect to every onlooker, yet two exceptions qualify this generality:

First: with regard to the entirety of adornment. From that Allah singled out “what ordinarily appears of it,” so it is permissible to show that to anyone.

Second: with regard to the entirety of those who may look at her. From among them He specified the husbands and those who come after them.

After quoting Ibn Masʿūd, the opposing views of the Companions and Successors, the positions of the legal schools, and the hadiths mentioned above, he summed up the matter and stated his own view (fol. 21/1):

“The hadiths cited in this chapter either indicate that she may expose all of that—namely, the face and hands—or some of it, in a way that one might divert from by forcing the wording or the incident to mean something else. Yet turning away from what the plain wording or the narrative context indicates is not permissible unless there is supporting evidence that renders such a departure an interpretation; if no such evidence exists, the departure is arbitrary. Accordingly, one must affirm what these apparent indications, taken together, clearly establish: that a woman may show her face and hands. A necessary exception, however, is when her purpose in doing so is tabarruj (wanton display) and the flaunting of beauty, for that is unlawful. What is permitted to her is only the exposure of what, by common custom, remains visible during normal movement and everyday dealings; she is not obliged constantly to keep that covered. This differs from what custom—meaning the sacred norm—requires to remain concealed unless deliberately revealed, such as the chest and abdomen. Showing these is impermissible, no leniency is granted should they become exposed, and she must cover them while going about, just as it is obligatory to