What is the evidence for the permissibility of drawing faceless individuals, and why did scholars not take the ḥadīth literally, despite the ḥadīth stating that the image is the head, not the face?

It is forbidden to draw and depict living beings. Forbidden images must be defaced. If it is a statue, its head should be cut off. If it is a picture, its face should be erased or what would make it impossible for it to live should be removed from it. The basis for this lies in prophetic hadiths that prohibit statues and images and command their removal or alteration of their form. The jurists have agreed that the prohibition pertains to the complete image. There is no harm in an incomplete image that cannot sustain life, such as an image with its head, chest, or stomach cut off, or one without clear features like eyes and a nose.