Then al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn al-Qaṭṭān—may Allah have mercy on him—said:

“If it is asked, ‘The view you have espoused—that a woman is excused if her face and hands appear, even though she is commanded to cover herself as far as she can—seems to be contradicted by the Almighty’s words, “O Prophet, tell your wives, your daughters, and the believing women to draw their outer garments closely over themselves; that is more likely that they will be recognized and not harmed” (Q 33:59),’ the answer is as follows:

It is possible to interpret this idnāʾ (drawing close) in a way that does not conflict with what we have said, by taking it to mean that they bring part of their outer garments over themselves so that necklaces and earrings are not visible—just as He said, ‘and let them draw their head-covers over their bosoms’ (Q 24:31). The commanded idnāʾ is absolute with respect to everything to which the term can apply; therefore, if we carry it upon any one form that can be called idnāʾ, the obligation of the text is discharged, for the verse does not require every conceivable form of idnāʾ. Such is the nature of a positive command, unlike a prohibition or a negation.”

Honoured readers will note that this valuable discussion which, by Allah’s grace, I have discovered in the words of this scholar, Ibn al-Qaṭṭān, accords perfectly with what I had earlier stated—out of personal effort to reconcile the evidences—namely that the verse is unrestricted, as you will see explicitly on p. 87. Praise be to Allah, by whose favor good works come to completion.

Indeed, the ḥadith of ʿĀʾishah recorded by Abū Dāwūd is a clear proof for the permissibility of a woman’s showing her face and hands, were it not for what we have explained in footnote 1; nonetheless, it is possible that