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yā-ʾayyuhā lladhīna ʾāmanū li-yastaʾdhinkumu lladhīna malakat ʾaymānukum wa-lladhīna lam yablughū l-ḥuluma minkum thalātha marrātin min qabli ṣalāti l-fajri wa-ḥīna taḍaʿūna thiyābakum mina ẓ-ẓahīrati wa-min baʿdi ṣalāti l-ʿishāʾi thalāthu ʿawrātin lakum laysa ʿalaykum wa-lā ʿalayhim junāḥun baʿdahunna ṭawwāfūna ʿalaykum baʿḍukum ʿalā baʿḍin ka-dhālika yubayyinu llāhu lakumu l-ʾāyāti wa-llāhu ʿalīmun ḥakīmun
O you who have faith! Your slaves and any of you who have not yet reached puberty should seek your permission three times: before the dawn prayer, and when you put off your garments at noon, and after the night prayer. These are three times of privacy for you. Apart from these, it is not sinful of you or them to frequent one another [freely]. Thus does Allah clarify the signs for you, and Allah is all-knowing, all-wise.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Sura An-Nur - Verse 58
58. “O you who believe! Do let those whom your right hands possess, and those of you who have not reached to puberty, ask permission of you at three times (for coming into your room): before the morning prayer, and at midday when you put off your clothes, and after the night prayer. (These are) three times of privacy for you. It is no sin for you or for them (if) after those (three times), some of you go round attendant upon the others. Thus does Allah make clear the revelations for you; and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.”
Faithful parents are responsible for teaching Divine religious ordinances to their children. The place where parents habitually sleep must be separate and far from the sight of the children, otherwise, there was no need for taking permission, as man must allocate some hours for his wife during 24 hours and issues must not disturb them. Islam is a religion for life and it is completely comprehensive. It has programs and plans for both common trivial issues such as entrance of children in parent’s room (mentioned in this verse) and important matters such as the establishment of universal government.
Anyway, as we said before, the most important issue that is comprehensively discussed in this Sura is the matter of public chastity and righting against any sexual deviation. This verse also is about one of these affairs that relate this issue and it explains its characteristics; the matter is concerned to the mature and immature issues’ taking permission when they want to enter the room which belongs to their parents. At first, it says:
“O you who believe! Do let those whom your right hands possess, and those of you who have not reached to puberty, ask permission of you at three times (for coming into your room): before the morning prayer, and at midday when you put off your clothes, and after the night prayer...”
As Raqib says in his book, Mufradat, and Firuz’abadi in Qamus, the Arabic word /zahirat/ means midday and about noontime when people take off their outer clothes and man and wife may be together privately.
“... (These are) three times of privacy for you...”
The Arabic word /’aurat/ originally is derived from the word /‘ar/ meaning shame and fault. Since showing genital organs is the cause of fault and shame, in Arabic language it is called /’aurat/. Sometimes the word /’aurat/ is also used to mean an opening and cut in wall and dress and the like. Sometimes it means absolutely fault. Anyway, using this word for these three times is for the matter that people do not compel themselves to be veiled fully as in other times they do and they consider these times their privacy.
It is obvious that this command only involves parents who must force their issues to do this, for children have not come of age yet so that they are not obligated to carry out divine duties, therefore parents are addressed here. Moreover, the verse is applied to both girls and boys, and the word /’allaǒina/ (those) that is a masculine pronoun is not against generality of the concept of the verse, because in many cases this word is used for all people, as we read in the verse that obligates all Muslims to fast, in which the word /’allaǒina/ is used to address all Muslims.1
It is necessary to mention that the verse is about children who can discern and comprehend sexual issues and genital organs, etc, because the matter of taking permission itself indicates that they at least understand what taking permission means. Using the phrase ‘Thalatha ’aurat’ (Three times of privacy) is another evidence for this meaning, too. Whether this verse covers male slaves only or it covers female slaves, too, there are various narrations. The verse apparently involves all, that is, it refers to both groups, so the narrations that are in harmony with the appearance of the verse can be preferred.
In the end of the verse, the Qur’an says:
“...It is no sin for you or for them (if) after those (three times), some of you go round attendant upon the others. Thus does Allah make clear the revelations for you; and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.”
The Qur’anic word /tawwafun/ is originally derived from the word /tawaf/, meaning walking about or around something, and since it is used in the form of exaggeration, it means frequency of this matter. With regard to the Qur’anic phrase
/ba‘dukum ‘ala ba‘din/ (some of you ... upon others)
that has come after it, the concept of the sentence is that you are allowed to do each other favour and to go and to come in other than these three times. As Fazil Mighdad says in Kanz-ul-‘Irfan, this sentence indicates that there is no need for taking permission in other times, because if they want to come and go frequently and they have to take permission, every time it will become a difficult job2.3
Footnotes