Why Does "What Normally Appears" In Verse 24:31 Mean Face, Hands And Feet?
Peace! F irst of all, I am sorry, I must have been mistaken. I couldn’t find the reports in Lisan ul Arab, but I did find them from Imam Al- Tabari’s tafsir. Ayesha said (regarding الا ما ظهر منها), “these are bracelets and rings.” Ibn Abbas said: “The apparent adornments (zeenah) are (those of) the face, eyeliners and Henna on the hands and rings. Because these are the ones exposed to anyone who meets her in her house.” Now, the Arabic does not say that Ibn Abbas said adornments of the face. I feel this is what he meant by “the face.” Because the rest are adornments and not body parts.
Peace! I wanted to add that if they (the Arabs) did believe that nothing except the face, hands and feet may be exposed to a non-mehram, that may be their own culture, because the Quran does not say this. Zeenah means adornments and it is wrong to take it to mean the body, not only from a language point of view but also from the verse’s own point of view. Look, the verse says zeenah can be exposed to some relatives. Can the whole body be exposed to anyone except the husband? Why didn’t Allah mention the zeenah of the men, if it included the body? Because it doesn’t.