Answer
(Fatwa: 438/D=85/File-D=1433)
The face is satr (coverable) for a woman. It is not lawful for a woman to open her face without any severe need in front of strangers. It is proved from the holy Quran and hadith. Almighty Allah says in the holy Quran:
يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِن جَلَابِيبِهِنَّ
O Prophet, tell (your wives and daughters and the women of the believers) that they should draw down their shawls over them.
Here the word ‘Jilbab’ ‘has been used which is the chuddar that covers the whole body not some parts.
والجلباب في لغة العرب التي خاطبنا بها رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم هو ما غطى جميع الجسم لا بعضه (المحلى).
The same explanation of this ayah is related by Hadhrat Abdullah ibn Abbas (رضى الله عنه). Also it is mentioned that a woman should tie her jilbab covering her forehead and folding it around her nose though both the eyes are exposed but she should covers most part of her body and face. (كما في روح المعاني).
It is also proved from the practice of the Sahabiyat (رضى الله عنهن) that whenever they went out of their homes they did not open their faces in front of strangers. (كما في تكملة فتح الملهم)
Allah (Subhana Wa Ta’ala) knows Best
Darul Ifta,
Darul Uloom Deoband