Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 235
! ! 235 A person came to the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa and said, “I woul d like to marry a certain woman. I do not know what she looks like and her father refuses to show me her face. ” The Holy Prophet Muhammad sa replied, “For the purpose of marriage, it is permissible to see the face. ” When that man went back to the girl’s father and related the Holy Prophet Muhammad ’s sa response, the father still considered it as an insult and refused to show him his daughter’s face. The girl, who was listening inside the house, came out with her face uncovered , and said, “When the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa has allowed him to look at my face, how can we refuse?” If it had been permissible for all women to leave their faces uncovered, then this question would have never been raised. Si milarly, it is narrated that on e evening , the Holy Prophet sa was walking o n a side street with his wife Haz rat Safiya h ra. He saw two men app roaching from the opposite side. For some reason , he felt that the men harbor ed a suspicion within their hearts that he may be wit h another woman. The Holy Prophet Muhammad sa uncovere d the face of his wife and said, “Look , this is Safiyah ra. ” Had the injunction instructed that the face remain uncovered, the possibility of such a risk would have been unlikely. Similarly , it is narrated that when Haz rat A’isha h r a led the forces in the Battle of Siffin, and her litter [a curtained seat upon a saddle of an animal] was thrown off when its ropes were cut, one evil natured Kharijite [a group of Muslims who disagreed with Ha z rat Ali as Khalifa and withdr e w from following him ] li fted the curtains and said, “O! T his is a woman with a red and white complexion. ” If it were customary for the wives of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa to leave their fa ces uncovered, then when she had been leading the forces from her li tter, he would have already sighted her , and it would not have come as a surprise to him. Similarly, many such instances can be found to support the injunction t hat certain classes of women should cover the ir face as much as possible. One verse of the Holy Qur’ān also bears testimony to this fact: ُﺟ ُﻴ ۡﻮ ِﺑ ِﻬ َّﻦ َﻋ ٰ ِﺑ ُﺨ ُﻤ ِﺮ ِﻫ َّﻦ ۡﻟ َﻴ ۡﻀ ِﺮ ۡﺑ َﻦ َو “ And they draw their head coverings over their bosoms. ” (Holy Qur’ān , Ch. 24: V. 32) Kh i m ā r does not refer to an or dinary shawl or dupatta [long head