very rationale behind ordering women to wear Hijab, since indulging in ways and causes of temptation is prohibited in Islam. It is clear that it is obligatory upon the Muslim woman to cover her face and attractive parts (of the body) as stated by the Qur'an, Sunnah, and Ijma` (consensus of scholars) of the Salaf (righteous predecessors).
For instance, proofs of wearing Hijab and prohibition of unveiling the face in the Qur'an include what Allah (Exalted be He) says: And tell the believing women to lower their gaze (from looking at forbidden things), and protect their private parts (from illegal sexual acts) and not to show off their adornment except only that which is apparent (like both eyes for necessity to see the way, or outer palms of hands or one eye or dress like veil, gloves, headcover, apron, etc.), and to draw their veils all over Juyûbihinna (i.e. their bodies, faces, necks and bosoms) and not to reveal their adornment except to their husbands, or their fathers, or their husband's fathers, or their sons, or their husband's sons, or their brothers or their brother's sons, or their sister's sons, or their (Muslim) women (i.e. their sisters in Islâm), or the (female) slaves whom their right hands possess, or old male servants who lack vigour, or small children who have no sense of feminine sex. And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment. And all of you beg Allâh to forgive you all, O believers, that you may be successful.
In this noble Ayah (Qur'anic verse), the obligation of wearing Hijab and prohibition of unveiling the face are stressed in two places: (i) Allah (Exalted be He) says: and not to show off their adornment except only that which is apparent (like both eyes for necessity to see the way, or outer palms of hands or one eye or dress like veil, gloves, headcover, apron, etc.) It prohibits a woman to disclose anything of her adornments except what Allah excludes, i.e.
her outer garments and any part which is unintentionally exposed. This is confirmed when Allah (may He be Praised) repeated the prohibition of exposing women's adornments in the same Ayah.
(ii) Allah (Exalted be He) says: and to draw their veils all over Juyûbihinna (i.e. their bodies, faces, necks and bosoms) It explicitly orders the Muslim woman to draw her veil from the head to the bosom, because the face is part of the head that must be covered based on reason, Shari`ah and people's customs. Nobody can say that the face does not belong to the head, and there is no text in the Qur'an or Sunnah excluding it from the head. Some scholars say that the face is not included in the general obligation of covering, but this is linguistically unaccepted as well as the Shari`ah and opinions of the early and late scholars oppose it. Scholars of UsululFiqh (principles of Islamic jurisprudence) and Hadith sciences mentioned two rules that refute this claim. First, affirmative evidence is given precedence over negative evidence. Second, when permitting evidence conflicts with the banning evidence, preference is given to the latter, i.e. the one that bans.
Allah (may He be Praised) knows the means of temptation that women have, so He ordered them to cover them in order not to cause temptation lest the person in whose heart is a disease should be moved with desire.
Adornment that a woman is prohibited to show refers to everything that a man loves to see of women, including the natural and artificial adornment that a woman may make to beautify and adorn her body.
The natural adornment includes her face, hair, hands, legs, bosom, and the like. It is admittedly true that the face is the place of beauty and certainly the main source of temptation that provokes men's sexual desires. Therefore, it is with greater reason prohibited more than any other adornment a woman may apply to her body. In his Tafsir, AlQurtuby said, "Adornments are either innate or artificial.
The innate one includes the face, which is the source of adornment and symbol of beauty that carries the sense of life. That is because it contains the means of acquiring knowledge. As for the artificial adornment, it refers to things that a woman adds to beautify her disposition, such as clothes, jewelry, kohl, and dye."
Moreover, AlBaydawy said in his Tafsir: and not to reveal their adornment refers to jewels, clothes, dyes, and the places to which they are applied, thus are all forbidden to be seen by foreign men. Knowing that the face is unquestionably the source of beauty, Allah (Exalted and Glorified be He) prohibited women to disclose anything of her adornment. This is a general rule for which there are no exceptions in the Qur'an or Sunnah, nor is it permissible to be specified by an opinion of anyone. Specification introduced by anyone in this regard is not acceptable, because the general texts of the Qur'an and Sunnah cannot be specified by humans, conjectures, or individual reasoning. The general texts of the Qur'an can be specified only by the Qur'an, authentic Sunnah, or 'Ijma` of the Salaf. It is not possible that the artificial adornment becomes prohibited to unveil, so how can the innate adornment, i.e. the face, be permitted to appear?
The saying of Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He): except only that which is apparent (like both eyes for