The position on the niqaab from the first three generations. I am just sharing what I found from the salaf.
this also includs the position of the Imams of the four madhabs on my above reply.
From the Sahaba (Radhiallaahu Ánhuma) .......
Ibn Ábbaas (Radhiallaahu Ánhu), who was one of the most knowledgeable companions of Rasulullaah (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam), Rasulullaah (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam) even made duwaa for him saying "O Allaah, make him acquire a deep understanding of the religion of Islaam and instruct him in the meaning and interpretation of things."
Ibn Jarir (Rahimahullah) with an authentic chain of narrators has quoted Ibn Abbaas' (Radhiallaahu Ánhu) opinion was "that the Muslim women are ordered to cover their head and faces with outer garments except for one eye." (This is quoted in the Ma'riful Qur'an in the tafseer of Surah Ahzaab ayah # 33, with reference of Ibn Jarir with a sahih chain of narrators). The Tabiee Ali Bin Abu Talha explained that this was the last opinion of Ibn Abbaas and the other opinions quoted from him were from before Surah Al-Ahzaab, Verse #59 and the order of the "Jalabib". Shaikh Ibn Uthaymeen commented on this saying of Ibn Abbaas (Radhiallaahu Ánhu) by saying "This statement is "Marfoo" and in Sharee'ah that is the same category as a hadeeth which is narrated directly from Rasulullaah (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam). The quote of Ibn Abbaas is quoted by many tabi'een like Ali Ibn Abu Talha and Ibn Jarir in Ma'riful Qur'ân by Mufti Muhammad Shafi vol.7 pg.217 and also in Tafseer Ibn Jarir, Vol. 22, pg.29 and also by Imaam Qurtubi all with SAHIH Chains and explained in the book "Hijaab" by Ibn Uthaymeen, Page # 9 and authenticated in the book "Hijaab wa Safur"by Shaikh-ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (Rahimahullaah) on page #11 and by Shaikh Abdul Aziz bin Baaz (Rahimahullaah) on page # 55 and 60 )
Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud (Radhiallaahu Ánhu) Who was known as the most knowledgeable Sahaabi in matters of Sharee'ah. He became Muslim when he was a young kid and ever since that he stayed with Rasulullaah (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam) and gained the understanding of Qur'ân from him. Umar Ibn Khattab (Radhiallaahu Ánhu) said about him "By Allaah, I don't know of any person who is more qualified in the matters dealing with the Qur'ân than Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud" Explained, the word Jilbaab (as mentioned in the Qur'ân Surah Ahzaab ayah # 59 ) means a cloak which covering the entire body including the head, face and hands. (Quoted from Ibn Taymiyyah (Rahimahullaah) in his book on fatwaas Page# 110 Vol # 2 and By Shaikh Ibn Uthaymeen in the book Hijaab Page # 15)
Ayeshah (Radhiallaahu Ánha) Stated that in verse 30 and 31 of Surah An Noor "What has been allowed to be shown is the hands, bangles and rings but the face must be covered. (Quoted in the book Purdah P# 195 and in his Tafseer of Qur'ân under the tafseer of Surah An Noor)
Abu Ubaidah Salmani (Radhiallaahu Ánhu), an other well known Sahabi is quoted saying "Jilbaab should fully cover the women's body, so that nothing appears but one eye with which she can see." (Tafseer Al-Qurtubi) And In the time of Rasulullaah (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam) "The women used to don their cloaks (Jilbaabs) over their heads in such a manner that only the eyes were revealed in order to see the road." (The Book "Hijaab" page # 9)
Ubaida bin Abu Sufyan bin al-Harith ('Radhiallaahu Ánhu' An' Other well known and knowledgeable Companion of Rasulullaah) Imaam Muhammad bin Sirin (Rahimahullah) One of the most knowledgeable tabi'een) said "When I asked Ubaida bin Sufyan bin al-Harith ('Radhiallaahu An'hu) how the jalbaab was to be worn, he demonstrated it to me by pulling a sheet of cloth over his head to cover his entire body, leaving the left eye uncovered. This was also the explanation of the word 'Alaihinna in this verse" (Commentary by Ibn Jarir and Ahkam-ul-Quran, Vol.3, p.457 also in "hijaab wa Safur" quoted by Shaikh Abdul Aziz Bin Baaz under the chapter of his fatwaa on hijab on page #54) [Top]
From the Tabi 'een....
Hassan Al-Basri (Rahimahullah)
States in his tafseer of the Surah An-Nur, "What a woman is allowed to show in this Ayah implies to those outer garments (not the face or hands) which the woman puts on to cover her internal decoration (her beauty). (Quoted in the book "Purdah" P#194 )
Ibn Jarir (Rahimahullah) Quotes the opinion of Ibn Ábbaas (Radhiallaahu Ánhu) "Allaah has enjoined upon all Muslim Women that when they go out of their homes under necessity, they should cover their faces by drawing a part of their outer garments over their heads." (Tafseer Ibn Jarir, VOL 22, pg.29)
The Tabi'ee, Qatadah (Rahimahullah) Stated that the Jilbab should be wrapped and fixed from above the forehead and made to cover the nose, (although the eyes are to show) and the chest and most of the face are to be covered.
The Tabi'ee Ali bin Abu Talha (Rahimahullah) Quotes from Ibn Abbaas (Radhiallaahu Ánhu) that he used to say it was allowed to show the hands and face when Surah Noor ayah #31 was revealed but after Surah Al-Ahzaab, Verse #59 with the word "Jalabib" was revealed then after this Ibn Abbaas (Radhiallaahu Ánhu) said that That the Muslim women are ordered to cover their head and faces with outer garments except for one eye." And this was also the opinion of Ibn Mas'ud (Radhiallaahu Ánhu). (This is quoted by Ibn Taymiyyah (Rahimahullaah) in his book of fatwaa and by Shaikh Abdul Aziz Bin Baaz (Rahimahullaah) in the book "Hijaab wa Safur" Page # 60)
Imam Muhammad bin Sirin (Rahimahullah) One of the most knowledgeable tabi'een) "When I asked Ubaida bin Sufyan bin al-Harith ('Radhiallaahu Ánhu' Other well known and knowledgeable Companion of Rasulullaah) the meaning of this verse about "Alaihinna" and how the jalbaab was to be worn, he demonstrated it to me by pulling a sheet of cloth over his head to cover his entire body, leaving the left eye uncovered. This was also the explanation of the word 'Alaihinna in this verse"(Commentary by Ibn Jarir and Ahkam-ul-Quran, Vol # 3, p.457 also in "hijaab wa Sufor" quoted by Shaikh AbdulAziz Bin Bazz under the chapter of his fatwaa on hijab on page #54) [Top]
From the Mufasireen of Quraan...
The Mufassir, Imaam Al-Qurtubi (Rahimahullah),
Cites in his Tafseer of the Ayah on Jilbaab (Al-Ahzab 33:59), that the Jilbaab is: "a cloth which covers the entire body... Ibn 'Abbaas (Radhiallaahu Ánhu) and 'Ubaidah As-Salmaani (Radhiallaahu Ánhu) said that it is to be fully wrapped around the women's body, so that nothing appears but one eye with which she can see." (Tafseer Al-Qurtubi Surah Al-Ahzab ayah # 59. This was also agreed upon by Imaam Wahidi, Imaam Neishapuri in the book of tafseer of Qur'ân "Gharaib-ul-Quran" and "Ahkam-ul-Quran", Imaam Razi, in his tafseer of Surah Azhab in the book "Tafsir-i-Kabir" Imaam Baidavi in his tafseer of Qur'ân "Tafsir-i-Baidavi" and by Abu Hayyan in "Al-Bahr-ul-Muhit" and by Ibn Sa'd Muhammad bin Ka'b Kuradhi and they have all described the use of jalbaab more or less in the SAME way as the two described by Ibn Abbas (Radhiallaahu Ánhu).)
Also from Imaam Qurtubi (Rahimahullah)
in his Al-Jamia li Ahkaamul Qur'ân states: "All women are in effect covered by the terms of the verse which embraces the Sharée principle that the whole of a woman is ‘Áwrah’ (to be concealed) – her face, body and voice, as mentioned previously. It is not permissible to expose those parts except in the case of need, such as the giving of evidence…" ("Al-Jamia li Ahkaamul Qur'ân")
At-Tabari and Ibn Al-Mundhir
described the method of wearing the Jilbaab according to Ibn Abbaas (Radhiallaahu Ánhu) and Qataadah (Radhiallaahu Ánhu). The sheet should be wrapped around from the top, covering the forehead, then bringing one side of the sheet to cover the face below the eyes so that most of the face and the upper body is covered. This will leave both eyes uncovered (which is allowed in necessity) (Rul-ul-Ma'ani, Vol 22, p.89)
Ibn Kathir (Rahimahullah) said...
"Women must not display any part of their beauty and charms to strangers except what cannot possibly be concealed." (Quoted by Mufti Ibrahim Desi in his article on hijaab) [Top]
From the 4 Madhabib (4 madhabs).......
Mufti Anwar Ali Adam Al Mazahiri (Mufti A'azam (Head Mufti) of Madrasa Madinatil Uloom Trinidad & Tobago.)
"Imaam Shaafi, Maalik and Hanbal hold the view that niqaab (covering the face and the hands completely with only a small area for the eyes to see) as being compulsory (fard). Imaam Abu Hanifa says that niqaab is Wajib and the face and hands can be exposed provided that there is not fear of desire if one looks at the female face, otherwise if there is the slightest chance of desire developing in the looker (the meaning of desire is that the looker would see the female face and think that she is beautiful, sexual thought is not what is meant) then exposing the face and hands is Haraam. (This is from the fatwaa issued by Mufti Anwar Ali Adam Al Mazahiri on 13/9/99. He derived the opinions of the 4 Imaams from these sources Tafseer Ibn Katheer, Tafseer Ma'rifatul Qur'aan, Durre Muhtaar, Fatawa Shami, Al Mabsoot, Fathul Qadeer. And the opinion of Imaam Abu hanifah is a directly derived from his statements in the Famous book of hanafi Fiqh Fatwaa Shami)
Shaikh-ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (Rahimahullah)
Relates that the correct opinion for the Hanbali and Malki madhaib is that is is wajib to cover everything except one or two eyes to see the way. (from the Arabic book "Hijaab wa Safur" under the fatwaa of Ibn Taymiyyah on hijaab, page # 10)
Ibn Al-Hazam (Rahimahullah)
"In arabic language, the language of the Prophet (saw), the word jilbaab (as mentioned in the Qur'ân Surah Ahzaab ayah # 59) means the outer sheet which covers the entire body. A sheet smaller than that which would cover the entire body, cannot be categorized as jilbaab.(Al-Muhallah, Vol 3. Pg 217)
Ibn Al-Mandhur (Rahimahullah)
"Jalabib is plural for Jilbaab. Jalbaab is actually the outer sheet/coverlet which a woman wraps around, on top of her garments to cover herself from head to toe. This covers the body entirely." (Lisan ul-Arab, VOL 1. Pg.273)
Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalanee (Rahimahullah)
A tradition reported on the authority of Aa'ishah (Radhiallaahu Ánha) says: "A woman in a state of Ihram (during Hajj and Umrah) should stretch her head cloth over to her face to hide it." (In Fathul Bari, chapter on Hajj)
Shaikh-ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (Rahimahullah) relates:
"Women used to room about without Cloaks (Jilbaabs) and men used to see their faces and hands, but when the verse stating 'O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks over themselves.' (Surah Al-Ahzaab,Verse #59) was reveled, then this was prohibited and women were ordered to wear the Jilbaab. Then Ibn Tayimiyyah goes on to say "The word Jilbaab means a sheet which Ibn Mas'ud (Radhiallaahu Ánhu) explained as a cloak covering the entire body including the head, face and hands. Therefore, it is not permissible for the women to reveal the face and hands in public. (Ibn Taymiyyah's book on fatwaas Page# 110 Vol # 2 also in the book Hijaab Page # 15)
Shaikh Abdul Aziz Bin Baaz (Rahimahullah)
"According to the understanding of the best generations (the "Salaf") after the ayah of hijaab was revealed than Muslims women must cover everything including the face and hands. they can show one eye or two eyes to see the way. this was the opinion held by many of the Sahaabah like Ibn Abbaas, Ibn Masud, Aa'ishah (Radhiallaahu Ánhuma) and others and this opinion was upheld by the Tab'ieen who followed than as Ali bin Abi Talha and Muhammad bin Sirin (Rahimahullaah) and by the righteous ulama who followed them as Ibn Taymiyyah and Imaam Ahmed bin Hanbal (Rahimahullaah)" (Quoted from the book "hijaab wa Sufor")