Refuting the claim that all of these evidences pre-date the obligation of the jilbab:

I say: Someone might object, “What you have set out is indeed perfectly clear, yet it is possible that the events in question occurred before the jilbab (outer cloak) was made compulsory; in that case, the proof would only stand once it is shown that they took place after the jilbab was prescribed.” Our answer comes from two angles.

First: The plain sense of the proofs indicates that they occurred after the jilbab had already been legislated, and we have two hadiths to that effect.

1. The hadith of Umm ʿAṭiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her): When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) instructed the women to go out for the ʿEid prayer, Umm ʿAṭiyyah said, “Messenger of Allah, one of us may not possess a jilbab.” He replied, “Let her sister lend her one of her jilbabs.” Agreed upon.

This shows that the women only went out to the ʿEid wearing their jilbabs; accordingly, the woman described as having dark cheeks must also have been wearing a jilbab. The following report supports this:

2. Another narration from her states: When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) arrived in Madinah he gathered the women of the Anṣār in one house and then sent ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb to them. He stood at the door and gave the salām, which they returned. He said, “I am the envoy of the Messenger of Allah to you.” They replied, “Welcome to the Messenger of Allah and to his envoy.” He then said, “Will you pledge allegiance that you will not associate anything with Allah, will not steal, will not commit fornication, will not kill your children, will not fabricate any slander that you invent between your hands and feet, and that you will not disobey in what is right?” They said, “Yes.” ʿUmar thereupon extended his hand from outside the door and they extended their hands from inside, after which he said, “O Allah, bear witness,” and he instructed us—in another version: so he instructed us—that