The Shaykh’s argument using the hadith of Asma’ bint Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to her, “When a woman reaches the age of menstruation, it is not permissible for any part of her to be seen except her face and her hands”

The Shaykh : So we bring a hadith that resolves the disagreement and dispute on this issue: the hadith of the Messenger (peace be upon him) when he entered upon Asma’ bint Abi Bakr and saw that she was wearing sheer clothes that revealed something of her arm or otherwise, so he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: It is not permissible, meaning it is forbidden, for anything of her to be seen except her face and her hands. And there are practical hadiths from the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that indicate with certainty that the face and hands are not awrah. For example, there was a black woman in the Prophet’s Mosque who was cleaning, meaning she was picking up dirt from the mosque. One day the Messenger (peace be upon him) missed her, and it was said to him that she had died. So he said to them, “Why did you not inform me of her?” Meaning, why did you not tell me of her death so that the Messenger (peace be upon him) could stand and pray over her, indicating her goodness, since she was concerned with cleaning the mosque? They said to him, “O Messenger of Allah, the weather was hot and you were sleeping, meaning you were taking a nap, so we did not want to disturb you.” So he said, “Show me her grave.” He went to her grave and prayed over her while she was in her grave. Where is the point in this hadith? How do strangers know that this woman is black, brown, or white? Unless at least her hands, or her hands and face together, were seen. This is a reality in the life of the Messenger (peace be upon him). Likewise, when he delivered the sermon on the day of 'Id al-Fitr or 'Id al-Adha to the men, then he went to the women, it was said that he saw a woman standing, and she was described in the hadith as having reddish cheeks. “Reddish cheeks” is an expression for a redness mixed with brownness. And the one who described this was a man among the men who were with the Messenger (peace be upon him). So the meaning is that this woman’s face was visible, because the Messenger (peace be upon him) and some of those with him saw her face. And so we find many, and very many, hadiths that clarify that some women, I say some women, in the time of the Messenger (peace be upon him) enjoyed the dispensation of revealing the face, and also the hands. It was also reported in another hadith that Ibn 'Abbas saw the hands of the women when the Messenger (peace be upon him) ordered them to give charity; they extended their hands to their jewelry and threw it into the garment of Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him), who was collecting charity from the women present in the prayer area of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). And the last thing I want to mention from the hadiths is one that contains a lesson for whoever takes heed, and it puts an end to the fanaticism of those who are fanatical about the hadith of the Khath'amian woman. That woman who stopped the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on the road after he had stoned the pillars, and she said, “O Messenger of Allah, my father is an old man who cannot stay on the mount, and the obligation of Allah, Hajj, has come upon him. Should I perform Hajj on his behalf?” He (peace be upon him) said: And the one riding behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was al-Fadl ibn al-'Abbas, the brother of 'Abdullah ibn al-'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them all). He was handsome and had a bright, beautiful face. And the Khath'amian woman was also looking at him, and al-Fadl in turn was looking at her. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did nothing more than turn al-Fadl’s face to the opposite side from the direction where the woman was, and the Messenger (peace be upon him) said to al-Fadl: or as he (peace be upon him) said. The point is: if the woman had been covered with the covering required by the statements of those who say it is obligatory to cover the face and hands, such that nothing of the woman is seen, then what was al-Fadl looking at? Until the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) feared fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) for him and urged him to lower his gaze and turn it away from looking at the woman, and he gave him glad tidings that whoever guarded his gaze and his tongue on that day, Allah would forgive him.
So this woman was revealing her face, and therefore al-Fadl ibn al-'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) was looking at her. If revealing the face had been forbidden, this would have been the best, indeed the most obligatory, time for the Messenger (peace be upon him) to order this woman to cover her face. That is because Satan nearly caused a fitnah between her and al-Fadl ibn al-'Abbas, who had a beautiful face. Despite this, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) approved of the woman’s revealing of her face, and he turned to al-Fadl to order him—indeed, he (peace be upon him) used his noble hand to turn al-Fadl’s face to the opposite side.
If it is said to women, “Lower your gaze,” from what? From the major awrah present in the man, of course not, but from looking at the face, even if it is his face... his gaze. So the face is not awrah, but despite that, the woman is ordered to lower her gaze from the face of the man. In return, men are ordered to lower their gazes from the faces of women. That is because the faces of women remain uncovered for whoever she wishes, and they are not awrah. So this verse, in fact, is alone sufficient to clarify that the face of the woman is not awrah. Otherwise, there would have been no motive or reason to order men to lower their gazes from women, as long as women go out as if they were in their homes, with nothing of them seen, neither the face nor the hands. This is what can be mentioned now in this brief answer to the previous question.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : We did not intend, my brother, we did not intend to go into the topic in detail. The question was: Is the face of the woman awrah or not? And it follows from that: Is it permissible for her to ride a mount and ride a car, or not? So we said: What the Shari'ah indicates. As for discussing this issue in detail...

The questioner : No, there is no detail, but...

The Shaykh : Be patient, my brother. Detail is a relative matter. I say it is detail, you say it is not detail. So what is the limit? I am saying now that I mentioned some clear evidence that the face of the woman is not awrah. And we know that there are people who argue with other things. If we wanted to mention them, it would mean we are writing a book called al-Mubin (The Clear Book). I have written a book for more than ten years titled “The Hijab of the Muslim Woman in the Book and the Sunnah”. So whatever comes to the mind of any of you to ask about, you will find the answer there. If there is an opportunity and the organizer of the session allows me to answer, I am ready for that.

The questioner : But I have not asked yet, I have not asked.

The Shaykh : Listen... everyone... .

The questioner : I, for example, the first thing... .
Another questioner : In any case, my brother, my brother... I am speaking to you now... in another place: meaning in another place, if Allah wills.

The questioner : The second part was not answered by Abu 'Abdullah.
Another questioner : The Shaykh of Islam, he is a Shaykh... .