the jilbāb (outer cloak). This is further corroborated by the report of ʿUmar, who did not enter upon the women but accepted their pledge from behind a door, and in that very episode he conveyed to them the Prophet’s order that women should go out for the ʿEid. That occurred in the sixth year, immediately after his ﷺ return from Ḥudaybiyyah, once the verse of examination and the verse of the pledge had been revealed, as noted earlier. From this you will understand Umm ʿAṭiyyah’s statement at the beginning of her second narration—“When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ arrived in Madinah”—namely, that he had come from Ḥudaybiyyah, not—as might first occur to the mind—his emigration from Mecca. Reflect on this carefully.

A second line of argument: even supposing we were unable to establish what we have just set forth, it is incontrovertible among the scholars that the Prophet’s tacit approval of a woman uncovering her face in the presence of men constitutes evidence of permissibility. Given that principle, every ruling remains in force until proof is produced of its abrogation. We assert that no such proof exists here; indeed, the evidence affirms the continuity of the original ruling, as you will soon see. Whoever claims the contrary must bring the abrogating evidence—yet that is a remote prospect indeed.

Moreover, we have already demonstrated, through the hadith of the Khathʿamī woman, that the incident occurred during the Prophet’s Farewell Pilgrimage, which was certainly after the jilbāb had been enjoined; the response advanced by the objectors has already been refuted decisively, leaving no room for doubt.

This is further supported by the opening of the afore-mentioned verse:

“Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and guard their private parts; that is purer for them. Surely Allah is well aware of what they do. And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their private parts…” (Al-Nūr 30–31).

The verse clearly suggests that something of the woman is exposed and liable to be looked at; hence the Almighty commanded that the gaze be averted from them—and that can be nothing other than