Does the Prophet's—may God's prayers and peace be upon him—turning Al-Fadl ibn Al-Abbas's face away from the beautiful woman who questioned him during the Farewell Pilgrimage, without rebuking her for being unveiled, indicate the permissibility for a woman to uncover her face?
It is not valid to use the of Al-Fadl ibn Abbas as proof for the permissibility of uncovering the face. Scholars have responded to this with two answers:
1. None of the narrations of the hadith explicitly state that the woman had uncovered her face. Her being known as beautiful or attractive does not necessitate this, as her head covering might have unintentionally fallen, or he might have seen her before.
2. The woman was in a state of , and a woman's ihram is in her face and hands. Therefore, she is obliged to uncover her face if there are no non- men looking at her, and she is obliged to cover it from men during ihram. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, prevented Al-Fadl from looking at her, which indicates that her uncovering her face was due to ihram, not to the permissibility of unveiling.
Furthermore, this hadith is considered among the mutashabihat (ambiguous verses/traditions), and when there is a possibility, the inference is invalidated. The mutashabih must be referred back to the muhkam (clear and unambiguous texts), which indicates the obligation of covering the face due to the potential for fitnah (temptation).
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