السلام عليكم يا شيخ، أحسن الله إليكم، أحبكم في الله. What is the proper response to those who quote the hadith about the Khath‘ami woman as evidence for it being permissible for a woman to uncover her face? JazakAllahu khayran.

‎Shaykh al-ʿUthaymīn raḥimahullāh said: “Those who hold that it is permissible for a woman to uncover her face have used this (meaning: the ḥadīth of the Khathʿamī woman) as evidence. Without a doubt, this ḥadīth is one of the mutashābih (ambiguous) aḥādīth. It could mean that this is permissible, and it could mean that it is not. The possibility that it is permissible is clear. As for the possibility that it does not show permissibility, we say: this woman was in iḥrām (the sacred state of Ḥajj or ʿUmrah), and what is prescribed for a woman in iḥrām is that her face be uncovered. We do not know of anyone looking at her except the Prophet ﷺ‎ and al-Faḍl ibn al-ʿAbbās. As for al-Faḍl ibn al-ʿAbbās, the Prophet ﷺ‎ did not approve of it. Rather, he turned his face away. As for the Prophet ﷺ‎, al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar raḥimahullāh mentioned that it is permissible for the Prophet ﷺ‎ to look at a woman, or to be alone with her, in ways that are not permissible for anyone else. This is just as it was permissible for him to marry a woman without a mahr (bridal gift) and without a walī (guardian), and to marry more than four [wives]. Allah ʿazza wa-jall (Mighty and Majestic) gave him some room in these matters, because he is the most complete of people in chastity. The Prophet ﷺ‎ cannot be suspected of what other people may be suspected of, meaning things that should not be found in people of honour. Based on this, the principle among the people of knowledge is: when another possible meaning exists, the text can no longer be used as evidence. So this ḥadīth is among the mutashābih texts. What is obligatory upon us with mutashābih texts is to refer them back to the muḥkam (clear and decisive) texts. These texts clearly show that it is not permissible for a woman to uncover her face, and that a woman uncovering her face is one of the causes of fitnah (temptation) and evil.”