A Muslim woman uncovering her hair in front of non-Muslim women

Question: Is it allowed for a Muslim woman to uncover her hair in front of non-Muslim women, especially if she describes the Muslim women to her male non-Muslim relatives?

Response: This question revolves around a difference of opinion concerning the interpretation of the verse: {Tell the believing women to lower their gaze and protect their private parts and not to show off their adornments except that which is apparent and to draw their veils over necks and bosoms and not to reveal their adornments except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband's fathers, their sons, their husband's sons, their brothers or their brother's sons, or their sister's sons, or their women or the (female) slaves, or old male servants who lack vigour, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex}, [an-Noor 31]. There is a difference of opinion concerning the referent of the pronoun in the phrase, {their women}. Some say that it refers to the class of women as a whole. Some say that it refers to the described women only, that is, the believing women. According to the first opinion, a woman may uncover her face and hands in front f a non-Muslim woman. According to the second opinion, a Muslim woman may not do so. I am more inclined to the first pinion and believe it is more likely to be correct. That is because then a woman is in the presence of a another woman, it makes no difference if that woman is a Muslim or not, as long as there is no kind of temptation involved. However, if one fears something of that nature, such as the woman describing the Muslim women to her male relatives, then one must avoid such a cause and then the woman should not uncover her face or any part of her body in front of such a woman. This is true regardless of whether that troublesome woman is a Muslim or a non-Muslim.

Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen
Fataawa al-Mar.ah