In another narration Ibn ʿAbbās would read, “that they lay aside some of their garments,” and he said, “It means the jilbab.” The same was reported from Ibn Masʿūd1.

I say: This is an explicit proof that placing the jilbab over the khimar is obligatory for all women except the elderly who have no hope of marriage; they are permitted to leave the head-covering off their heads.

Is it not high time for pious women, wherever they may be, to awaken from their heedlessness, fear Allah regarding themselves, and place the jilbabs over their khimars?

What is truly astonishing is that, to the best of my knowledge, all those who write nowadays about women’s dress—some of whom devote ample space to claiming that a woman’s face is part of her ʿawrah, a matter over which there is disagreement and whose correct ruling is otherwise, as this book will explain—have failed to mention this explicit ruling found in the Quran and Sunnah. Praise be to Allah, by whose favor righteous deeds are perfected.

Furthermore, the phrase “and the jilbabs when going out” carries no limiting implication, for the jilbab is meant to conceal a woman’s adornment from unrelated men. Whether she goes out to them or they come in to her, she must on every occasion wear her jilbab. This is reinforced by the statement of Qays ibn Zayd:

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ divorced Ḥafṣah bint ʿUmar … Later the Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered upon her, and she had wrapped herself in her jilbab. He said, ‘Gabriel came to me and said…’”