Tafseer of The Light · An-Noor · 24:58
O you who have believed, let those whom your right hands possess and those who have not [yet] reached puberty among you ask permission of you [before entering] at three times: before the dawn prayer and when you put aside your clothing [for rest] at noon and after the night prayer. [These are] three times of privacy for you. There is no blame upon you nor upon them beyond these [periods], for they continually circulate among you - some of you, among others. Thus does Allah make clear to you the verses; and Allah is Knowing and Wise.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed over what is meant by His word لِيَسْتَأْذِنْكُمُ الَّذِينَ مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ ("let those whom your right hands possess ask permission of you"). Some said: here only men are meant and not women; they were forbidden to enter upon them during these three mentioned times without permission.
We mention here those who said this:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar — concerning His word لِيَسْتَأْذِنْكُمُ الَّذِينَ مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ : he said: "This applies to men, not to women."
Others said: it concerns both men and women.
We mention here those who said this:
Ibn Bashār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Ḥaṣīn, on the authority of Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān — concerning His word يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لِيَسْتَأْذِنْكُمُ الَّذِينَ مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ : he said: "It applies to men and women; they ask permission in all circumstances, by day and by night."
In my view, the most correct opinion is that of those who said that it concerns both men and women, because Allah, by His word الَّذِينَ مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ , has included all slaves (amlāk ayamāninā), without exception for male or female slaves. The text of the revelation therefore applies to all whom the explicit text includes.
The explanation of the text is thus: O you who have affirmed Allah and His Messenger — let your male slaves (ʿabīd) and female slaves (imāʾ) ask permission to enter upon you, and let them not enter without your permission.
وَالَّذِينَ لَمْ يَبْلُغُوا الْحُلُمَ مِنْكُمْ ("and those among you who have not yet reached puberty"): that is to say: the free ones among you who have not yet had a [wet] dream — ثَلاثَ مَرَّاتٍ ("three times"), that is to say: three times, at three times of your nights and days.
As al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — concerning the word يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لِيَسْتَأْذِنْكُمُ الَّذِينَ مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ : he said: "your bondservant slaves (al-mamlūkūn)" — وَالَّذِينَ لَمْ يَبْلُغُوا الْحُلُمَ مِنْكُمْ : he said: "those who have not yet reached puberty, from among your free ones."
Ibn Jurayj said: ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ said to me: "This applies to every child, boy or girl, to ask permission — as it is said in ثَلاثَ مَرَّاتٍ مِنْ قَبْلِ صَلاةِ الْفَجْرِ وَحِينَ تَضَعُونَ ثِيَابَكُمْ مِنَ الظَّهِيرَةِ وَمِنْ بَعْدِ صَلاةِ الْعِشَاءِ ." They said: that is the night prayer (al-ʿatama). I asked: "And if they have laid aside their clothing after the night prayer, do they ask permission until the morning?" He answered: "Yes." I asked ʿAṭāʾ: "Is their asking permission only [required] when people lay aside their clothing?" He answered: "No."
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Ṣāliḥ ibn Kaysān, Yaʿqūb ibn ʿUtba and Ismāʿīl ibn Muḥammad, who said: "There is no obligation upon the household slaves to ask permission of their master, except during the three private moments."
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — concerning His word لِيَسْتَأْذِنْكُمُ الَّذِينَ مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ : he said: "When a man is alone with his wife after the night prayer, no servant and no child may enter upon him without permission, until he performs the morning prayer. When he is alone with his wife after the noon prayer, the same applies."
Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Qurra ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān informed me, on the authority of Ibn Shihāb, on the authority of Thaʿlaba, on the authority of Abū Mālik al-Qaraẓī — that he asked ʿAbd Allāh ibn Suwayd al-Ḥārithī, who was among the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, about the permission during the three private moments. He answered: "When I have laid aside my clothing after the noon prayer, no servant who has reached puberty, and no free person who has not yet reached it, enters upon me without permission."
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: I heard ʿAṭāʾ say: Ibn ʿAbbās said: "Three verses have been neglected by the people: the permission requirement entirely, and [the verse]: إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ — while the people say: the most honored among you is the one with the largest house — and the third I have forgotten."
Ibn Abī al-Shawārib related to me, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Yūnus related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan — concerning this verse لِيَسْتَأْذِنْكُمُ الَّذِينَ مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ : al-Ḥasan used to say: "If a man has his servant lodge overnight with him, that is his permission; if he does not have him lodge overnight with him, he asks permission during these hours."
Ibn Bashār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, saying: Mūsā ibn Abī ʿĀʾisha related to me, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī — concerning His word لِيَسْتَأْذِنْكُمُ الَّذِينَ مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ : he said: "It is not abrogated." I said: "The people do not act upon it." He answered: "Allah is the help we seek!"
He said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Mūsā ibn Abī ʿĀʾisha, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī — I asked him about this verse لِيَسْتَأْذِنْكُمُ الَّذِينَ مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ : I asked: "Is it abrogated?" He answered: "No, by Allah, it is not abrogated." I said: "The people do not act upon it." He answered: "Allah is the help we seek!"
He said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Abū ʿAwāna related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: "Some people claim that it is abrogated, but it is among the matters in which people are negligent."
He said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr — concerning this verse يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لِيَسْتَأْذِنْكُمُ الَّذِينَ مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ ... to the end of the verse — he said: "It is not acted upon today."
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ḥanẓala related to us — that he heard al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad being asked about the permission requirement. He answered: "He asks permission at each private moment, after which he may go to and fro freely" — he meant: the man with respect to his mother.
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿUthmān ibn ʿUmar related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abī Rawwād informed us — a man from Ṭāʾif informed me, on the authority of Ghaylān ibn Shuraḥbīl, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Let not the Bedouins take from you the name of your prayer — Allah says: وَمِنْ بَعْدِ صَلاةِ الْعِشَاءِ ثَلاثُ عَوْرَاتٍ لَكُمْ — and the ʿatama prayer is [named after] the milking of the camels at nightfall."
His word ثَلاثُ عَوْرَاتٍ لَكُمْ ("three private moments are they for you"): the reciters differed over this. The majority of the Medinan and Basran reciters read ثَلاثُ عَوْرَاتٍ لَكُمْ with the noun in the nominative, as a statement about these times — as though it were said: "These three times which We have commanded you not to enter except with permission are three private moments for you, because during those times you lay aside your clothing and are alone with your wives." The majority of the Kufan reciters read ثَلاثَ عَوْرَاتٍ in the accusative, as a further specification of the first "three." The meaning is then: let the slaves and those who have not reached puberty ask permission three times — at three private moments.
The most correct view is that they are two readings close to one another in meaning; both are transmitted from learned reciters. Whichever the reader recites, he is correct.
His word لَيْسَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَلا عَلَيْهِمْ جُنَاحٌ بَعْدَهُنَّ طَوَّافُونَ عَلَيْكُمْ ("after those times there is no blame upon you nor upon them; they go to and fro among you"): Allah the Exalted says: there is no blame and no sin — after those three private moments — upon you, the dwellers of the house and the inhabitants of the homes, nor upon them — that is to say: the male and female slaves whom your right hands possess, and the young free children — for going in and out without permission. The back-reference in بَعْدَهُنَّ refers to "the three" in ثَلاثُ عَوْرَاتٍ . It means: there is no blame upon you that your adult slaves and young children visit you without permission, after the three mentioned times: مِنْ قَبْلِ صَلاةِ الْفَجْرِ وَحِينَ تَضَعُونَ ثِيَابَكُمْ مِنَ الظَّهِيرَةِ وَمِنْ بَعْدِ صَلاةِ الْعِشَاءِ .
What we have said about this is also the opinion of the exegetes.
We mention here those who said this:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: "After that, Allah granted them leave to visit without permission during the intervening times — that is to say: from the morning prayer until midday, and after midday until the night prayer. Leave is given to the man's servant and the child to enter his dwelling without permission. This is the word of Allah: لَيْسَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَلا عَلَيْهِمْ جُنَاحٌ بَعْدَهُنَّ . But whoever has reached puberty may not visit the man and his wife in any situation without permission."
His word طَوَّافُونَ عَلَيْكُمْ ("they go to and fro among you"): the plural "those who go around" has an implicit subject — "they." This means: these slaves and small children are the ones who go to and fro among you, O people — that is to say: they go in and out of their masters' and family members' dwellings, in the morning and the evening, without permission, outside the three times concerning which Allah has decreed that they may not visit their masters and family members during them without permission. كَذَلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمُ الآيَاتِ ("thus Allah makes clear to you the signs"): Allah the Exalted says: just as I have made clear to you, O people, the rulings of the permission requirement in this verse, so does Allah make clear to you all His signs, indications, and the laws of His religion — وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ ("and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise"): that is to say: Allah is fully aware of what benefits His servants, All-Wise in His governance over them and all other matters.
