Is a husband entitled to prevent his wife from wearing the niqab, despite her strong desire to wear it and her conviction that it is obligatory?

A husband is not permitted to prevent his wife from covering her face, and the wife is not obliged to obey him in this matter, because there is no obedience to a creature in disobedience to the Creator. A man's lack of protective jealousy (ghirah) over his wife is an indication of the weakness of his religious commitment. If the husband threatens divorce should the wife insist on covering her face, then, as long as this is not the third divorce, she is not permitted to comply with him; rather, she must continue to cover her face and hair.