On one occasion a lady made a claim of five hundred gold coins against her husband in the court of Qaadhi Moosa bin Ishaaq, which the husband denied. The lawyer of the wife proved the claim by producing witnesses. However one of the witnesses insisted that he has to see her face (which was veiled) in order to give witness in her favour. Therefore he stood up to see her face and she stood up as well.
Witnessing this, the husband’s self honour and dignity drove him to exclaim: “Why should a strange man’s eyes be allowed to gaze at my wife? I personally confess in the presence of the judge that I do owe my wife five hundred gold coins as her mahr, but I will never allow my wife to reveal her face to a strange man.” Hearing this self honour and dignity of her husband, the wife replied that I make those present as witness that I have gifted the entire amount to my husband.
The judge Moosa bin Ishaaq exclaimed that this should be included among the incidents of exemplary character. (Shu‘abul Imaan #10313)
Lesson: Subhanallah! Once upon a time this was the level of modesty and self dignity that the people of this Ummah possessed. Unfortunately, nowadays the situation is totally different, where a man would even insist on his wife to freely mix with his friends and to venture into the corporate world in order to live a ‘better quality of life.’