What are the Islamic legal rulings regarding the hijab of the Muslim woman?

The questioner :
The hijab of the Muslim woman

The Shaykh:
The hijab of the Muslim woman: In the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), some women would cover
their entire bodies, including the face and hands, while others would cover their entire bodies except for the face and hands. The first
is better, and the second is permissible. If a woman wishes to cover her face and hands, that is more noble and better for her, but there is no
evidence that this is obligatory for the woman. In other words, there is no evidence indicating that the woman's face and hands are part of
the awrah (the part of the body that must be covered). There is no evidence for this. However, the reality of many of the wives of the Companions, as we mentioned, was that
they would cover their faces and hands as well. This indicates permissibility, and indeed, that it is the better option. However, it is said that this reality is one
of two realities. Here, some women would uncover their faces. This reality indicates pure permissibility, while
the first reality indicates the better kind of permissibility. This is the most balanced view among the scholars who differed on this issue. Those who say
that the face and hands are not awrah do not address the fact that covering them is better. And those who say that the face
and hands of a woman are awrah, like the rest of her body, and that she is not allowed to show any part of them, this is something for which there is no evidence.
I have detailed this in detail in my book "The Hijab of the Muslim Woman in the Book and the Sunnah." This is a summary of what
we hold to be the position in this issue.

The questioner:
Is there evidence for the preference of covering the face entirely?

The Shaykh:
We mentioned this earlier in two realities during the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): covering and uncovering. There is no doubt that covering is more modest.

The questioner :
He is asking if there is evidence that a woman does not wear the niqab (face veil) while in ihram (the consecrated state of pilgrimage).

The Shaykh :
No, that is not what he wants. "A woman does not wear the niqab" means she wears the niqab while not in ihram. But this is evidence of permissibility.
The questioner:
This is evidence of preference.

The Shaykh :
No, it is not evidence of preference.

The questioner:
The hijab of the Muslim woman is good in terms of its prescription and permissibility...

The Shaykh:
I do not recall this being present as a statement that the woman would wear the niqab. Yes, it is not evidence that this is recommended.

The questioner:
But the hadith is present... in the section on the prescription of covering the face...

The Shaykh:
I do not recall. In any case, let us review the matter. The hadith is present and authentic, and I used it as evidence that
wearing the niqab was known in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). I used it to refute those who exaggerated in this issue and said that
a woman covering her face is an innovation. I refuted these people with this hadith. But I did not address the point that this
indicates recommendation. There is no explicit textual evidence for recommendation; rather, it is derived through
deduction (istinbat) from two angles. The first angle, which I began to mention earlier, is that I said there is no doubt that the most noble and
most modest thing for a woman is to cover her face. Especially since some scholars who made covering the face obligatory said that it is a place of
fitnah (trial, discord or temptation). And if it were not for the fact that we have some hadiths that explicitly state that the woman would uncover her face
and she was beautiful, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) approved of that, we would have agreed with those who say it is obligatory for a woman to cover her face.
If she is beautiful and attractive, at the very least we would say that covering her face is better and more noble for her. This is the first angle.
The second angle is that the noble women of the Companions, such as the Mothers of the Believers, would cover their faces. So, any woman who covers her face
today is following the example of the women of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and the Mothers of the Believers. From this angle, we see
that covering is better.

The questioner :
Especially regarding adornment, meaning the woman in this era...

The Shaykh :
No, if she does not want to wear adornment, it becomes forbidden for her not to cover her face.