Woman in Islamic Shari‘ah
10. Hijab in Islam
~ 234 ~
That is why there are two theological schools of
thought. The Hanafis and Malikis believe that the
face and hands are not to be covered, while the
followers of Imam Shafi’i and Hanbali maintain that
a woman has to be fully veiled. In this view, natural
as well as acquired beauty have to be completely
veiled. It is unlawful for a woman to unveil any
part of her body when she goes out. To them, what
is exempted is that which gets exposed
unintentionally. They will be excused for that. Thus
the face and the hands are the parts that are
forbidden to be exposed unnecessarily.
203
Maulana Shabbir Ahmad ‘Usmani gives the
following commentary pertaining to this verse of
the Qur’an:
To this writer the interpretation of
zinah
(beauty) as adornment would be more
appropriate and comprehensive in this
context. The word adornment encompasses all
kinds of beauty, whether natural or acquired;
whether inborn beauty or that of beautiful
garments or make-up. In short, a woman is
forbidden to display adornment of any kind
