What is the authenticity of the hadith narrated by Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) about a woman who used to pray behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and due to her, Allah Almighty revealed the verse: "And We have already known the preceding among you and We have already known the succeeding"? Does it indicate the uncovering of women's faces? Are there other hadiths that support it?

Al-Tirmidhi and others narrated from Ibn Abbas the hadith (definition) of the beautiful woman who used to pray behind the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. Some people would go to the first row so as not to see her, while others would delay their entry to the row to look at her when she bowed. Then the verse was revealed: "And We have already known the preceding among you and We have already known the delaying [others]."

Many scholars have deemed this hadith weak, among them Al-Tirmidhi, who considered it weak due to irsāl (missing link in the chain of narration), as well as Abu Nu'aym, Al-Qurtubi, and Ibn Kathir, who described it as extremely reprehensible. They favored the view that it is a saying of Abu Al-Jawza' and not attributed to Ibn Abbas as a prophetic tradition (marfū‘).

Even if we assume its authenticity for the sake of argument, it has been said that these people might have been hypocrites or new converts to Islam. It is not valid to use this as an argument that a woman's face is not awrah (that which must be covered), because it is possible that this occurred before the command for hijab (definition) was revealed, and because a woman uncovers her face during prayer, and it is not considered part of the awrah for prayer.