The limit of the 'awrah (part of the body that must be covered) of a mature woman, and the meaning of His saying, the Exalted: “And they shall not display their adornment except to their husbands or their fathers…”

The Shaykh : First: Perhaps you all know that the ruling regarding mature women is derived from His saying, the Exalted: until He said: . This verse is preceded by another verse, which is His saying, the Exalted: . The scholars—specifically the scholars of Qur'anic exegesis—based on these two verses divided women's adornment into two categories: apparent adornment and hidden adornment.
Regarding apparent adornment: The exegetes and jurists differed on this, but the majority of scholars, both past and present, hold that the apparent adornment mentioned in the verse preceding the first verse we cited in our discussion: , meaning the face and the hands, is the apparent adornment.
It is permissible for a woman—it is permissible, not obligatory—to uncover her face and her hands when she goes to the market or to attend to her needs or sits with some people who are not her mahram (a relative one may not marry). This is what they call apparent adornment.
The other verse: until He said at the end of the verse: . They call this hidden adornment. Why? Because it is not permissible for a woman to display this adornment to anyone other than the mahram (a relative one may not marry) relatives mentioned in the context of the verse. Otherwise, the women mentioned at the end of the verse—the intended meaning here, according to the scholars of Qur'anic exegesis, is “believing Muslim women, not disbelieving women.”
Now, here it is necessary to point out a problem that Muslims are living with today in the lands of Islam, let alone in lands other than the lands of Islam. We find that many women do not apply this Qur'anic text, namely: the hidden adornment. You will find, for example, a sister sitting in front of her brother—and he is undoubtedly one of her mahram (a relative one may not marry) relatives—indeed, in front of her father—and he is her father. But the Shari'ah (Islamic sacred law) in this verse did not permit the Muslim woman to display of her hidden adornment, or of her body which is the 'awrah (part of the body that must be covered), except the hidden adornment.
The verse, whether the first or the other: The intended meaning is: the places of adornment. Likewise, the places of adornment. If the researcher returns to the time of the revelation of this verse, what are the places of adornment to which our Lord—Mighty and Majestic—refers in the second verse, the verse of hidden adornment? They are, for example, the head and what it contains. Earrings are part of the hidden adornment; because it is not permissible for a woman to display them to non-mahram (a relative one may not marry) men; because this is behind the face, which is the apparent adornment. So, earrings, likewise necklaces, likewise the armlet which is on the upper arm where the bracelet is, likewise the anklets which they used to put on their feet. Our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, referred to them by His saying: , meaning: the anklets. These places, which are the abode of this adornment, are the only ones it is permissible for the Muslim woman to display this adornment. Only this is what it is permissible for the Muslim woman to display in front of her mahram (a relative one may not marry) relatives, and consequently in front of her female counterparts, in front of women.
Therefore, it is not permissible for the Muslim woman to wear in front of her sister the loose shirt, the shirt that does not cover the shoulders except for the minimum, and from which the upper arms are exposed, and from which the armpits are exposed. It is forbidden (haram) for a woman, a girl, to display this in front of her daughter, and for a mother in front of her daughter, let alone in front of her sons. So it is not permissible for the Muslim woman to display anything of her body except the places of adornment, and you have come to know the places of adornment.