Is the niqab an obligation or a Sunnah, along with an explanation of which is more correct regarding the stipulation of covering the face, eyes, and hands in it, and citing evidence from the Qur'an and Sunnah?

Scholars, ancient and modern, have differed regarding the ruling on a woman covering her face and hands in front of non-mahram men. Some have gone to the opinion that covering is obligatory, and this is the more preponderant view, while others have held that it is not obligatory. Both groups have their evidence from the Quran and Sunnah.