An Analytical View on the Ruling of Covering the Face (Part 11)
The Sayings of the Mufasireen on Covering the Face
The majority of commentators have interpreted the verse «يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ جَلَابِيبِهِنَّ» as referring to covering the face. The names of some notable Mufasireen who hold this interpretation include Allama Razi, Allamah Bayzawi, Jalal al-Din al-Mahali, Nasafi, Zamakhshari, Qurtubi, Tabari, Qasemi, Beqaa’i, Alusi, Iji, Jassas, Sawi, Jamal, Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi, Neyshaburi, Ibn Jazzi, Abd al-Rahman ibn Nasser Saadi, Muhammad Amin al-Shanqeeti, and Hasnain Muhammad Makhlouf, may Allah have mercy on them. Below, we will present the sayings of some of these scholars regarding this matter:
1. Allama Qurtubi, may Allah have mercy on him, a prominent and trusted Mufasir of the Islamic world, states: “The habit of Arab women was to adorn themselves and to reveal their faces, similar to those of slave girls, which motivated men to look at them and disrupted their thoughts. Allah commanded His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to instruct them to hang their veils over their faces when they left the house to fulfill their needs. At that time, women went to the desert to relieve themselves before the construction of bathrooms.”
2. Allama Zamakhshari, may Allah have mercy on him, the author of Tafsir al-Kashaf, interprets this verse as follows: “The meaning of the verse is that they should throw their veils over themselves and cover their faces and arms with them. When the veil is removed from a woman’s face, it is said: ‘Bring your veil closer to your face.’ Al-Sadi adds: ‘Cover one eye and forehead while leaving the other eye free.’ There is also a narration from Al-Kasa’i that states they should wrap themselves with their veils so that their faces are covered.”
3. Allama Ismail Haqqi, the author of Tafsir Ruh al-Bayan and a significant Hanafi Mufasir, remarked: “The meaning of this verse is that when women leave their homes to relieve themselves, they should cover their faces and bodies with a Jilbab, and they should not go out with their faces and bodies uncovered like slave girls.”
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