first off - what an intelligent and articulate woman, masha'Allah!
my thoughts -
specifically on the man saying an open face can lead to temptation...
why dont men cover their faces? as a woman with hormones - a man's face is just as alluring as a woman's is to a man. when we look at an attractive man we are not attracted by his elbows or his knees or his neck - we are attracted to the face first and foremost so telling a woman to cover her face for this reason is ridiculous.
and to add to that - i swear i have never witnessed a man losing sexual control of himself because he glanced at a non-mahram woman's face in the street.
i dont believe niqab is fard/compulsory - i believe it is an option - an extra choice if you may but in no way do i believe it is something we must follow.
secondly - if he is the one experiencing temptation then it is his fault for looking twice in the first place. if you look at a woman/man that is attractive to you and you know it can lead to haram then look away as you are ordered to in the quran. its that simple.
you are actually ordered to lower your gaze FIRST in the quan, and then the clothing aspect comes into the verse.
im so over the screwed up mentality out there that we women are to blame for the lust of men. we cover in loose pants and loose tops and hijab and it is still not enough. so we switch the pants for long skirts and it still isnt enough. if wearing abaya - all clad in black - with no makeup and perfume is not enough then what do we do? do we put on niqab because some guy cant control himself and follow Allah's command to lower his gaze?
and what if we do put on niqab and gloves and black socks? then some will say he is attracted to our eyes as well! so we must hide our eyes as well?
so we start wearing an afghani type burka to hide our eyes in case they "lead him to temptation"?
and if he is still tempted, then what do we do once we have nothing left to hide?
should we lock ourselves up in our homes and never venture a foot outside to see the light of day because some man cant control himself? and what if that isnt enough?
what if the mere knowledge that a house he passes may contain a woman inside and that thought excites him and once again have that in some way lead him into temptation?
maybe we should go back to the days of burying female infants alive because they are obviously such a hindrance to some of the male species... (rolls eyes)
men - its up to you to control yourself. that is your honour. that is your modesty. it is not up to us to control your brain and your actions. we cant hide ourselves away from the world because you cant control yourself. and any men out there who are looking from woman's face to woman's face and getting all hot and bothered are obviously very weak men and need to work on their iman instead of ordering fully covered women out of sight. the problem lies with YOU, not US.
we are upholding our end of the agreement by covering - you should uphold yours by lowering your gaze if you find our hijab covered head too hot to handle.
Almighty Allah says: “Tell the believing men to lower their gaze (from looking at forbidden things), and protect their private parts (from illegal sexual acts)” (An-Nur:30)
Imam Ibn Kathir wrote: "This is a command from Allah to His believing slaves to lower their gaze and refrain from looking at that which is forbidden to them. So they should not look at anything except that which they are permitted to look at, and they should lower their gaze and refrain from looking at forbidden things. If it so happens that a person’s gaze accidentally falls upon something forbidden, he should quickly avert his gaze."
for any men having trouble - read this regarding 20 ways you can lower your gaze.
disclaimer - the majority of muslim men dont have a problem with a woman's face but this blinded mentality sure does exist in the minds of a few.
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