We emphasized over the last couple of weeks the importance of announcing oneself when visiting one’s relatives, friends or other people. One must seek permission before entry. While this may be taken for granted in urban areas and contemporary houses which have doors and locks, the case is not so in some rural areas and other communities. In Arabia at the time of the Prophet most homes did not have doors, and people could enter at will. The Prophet emphasized that anyone must seek permission before entering the home of even one’s closest relatives. This is due to the fact that in their homes people must have their privacy. They may be in a position which they do not like to be seen by anyone. To enter unannounced may cause much embarrassment, leading to hard feelings.
Needless to say, with the situation in Arabia as we have just described, the Prophet needed to teach his companions not only to seek permission before entry, but also what to say and how to seek permission. His companions carried this to other communities and to later generations. Abu Hurayrah was one of the Prophet’s companions who related a large number of his Hadiths. He is quoted to have said: “If someone asks: ‘Shall I enter’, without first offering the greeting of peace, i.e. Salam, say: ‘No, until you have produced the key.’” Ata’, a tabi’een scholar who reported this Hadith, says: “I asked him whether he meant the greeting of salam. He answered in the affirmative.” (Related by Al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad)
Thus, the greeting of peace, which is the normal Islamic greeting of Assalamu Alaikum, is the key that a visitor needs to use before gaining entry into a home other than his own. Indeed, even when one enters his own home and finds no one in, he should offer himself the greeting of peace, and consider it as a greeting by God to him in his own place. Needless to say, when Abu Hurayrah mentioned this, he was on solid grounds. He had accompanied the Prophet for four years during which he was with him for much of the time. This is what made him able to report such a large number of Hadiths. Abu Hurayrah emphasizes this point in another Hadith in which he is asked about a person seeking permission to enter before offering a greeting. He said: “He is not to be given permission until he has offered a greeting of peace.” (Related by Al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad)
This shows that the greeting should be offered before one asks permission to enter. In fact, this is what the Prophet taught. A man from the Amir tribe came to the Prophet and said: ‘May I enter.’ The Prophet said to a maid: “Go out and tell this man to say: ‘Assalamu alaikum. May I enter.’ He has not sought permission properly.” The man says: “I heard this before the maid could come out to give me this message. So I said: Assalamu alaikum. May I enter.” The Prophet said: “And to you. Yes, come in.” (Related by Al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad and Abu Dawood)
This is a long Hadith which also mentions the Prophet’s answer to the man’s questions. It is an important Hadith, but we will leave the rest of it till next week in order to be able to comment on it properly. This portion is sufficient for our present topic.
When we realize how often the Prophet impressed on his companions the need to seek permission before entry, the question that may be asked is whether sparing someone the odd embarrassment requires such emphasis. The point at issue here is that in one’s own home, one should feel absolutely secure, with his privacy properly respected. Until one has properly announced oneself, the people inside may be totally unaware of his presence. They certainly do not wish to be seen or heard. Hence, privacy should be given its due importance. The Prophet explained on several occasions that seeking permission to enter is required so that people would realize that they may not look into other people’s homes when they are unaware. The Prophet says: “Seeking permission is required because people look.” (Related by Al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad).
So, what if people look and see their relatives and friends inside their homes? Is this an offense? If so, how serious?
To answer these questions we may quote the following Hadith: “If a man looks at the inside of your home, and you throw a pebble at him, and it hits his eye causing him a bad injury in his eye, you have nothing to answer for.” (Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim and others).
This is a very clear answer to our questions. One may take any action to stop a person looking at the inside of his home without permission, to the extent of causing such a person a serious eye injury. This is supported by other Hadiths. Anas reports: “The Prophet was standing up in prayer when a man looked at the inside of his home. The Prophet took an arrow out of his bag and directed it at the man’s eyes.” (Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Al-Nassaie and Abu Dawood).
We note here that the Prophet did this while he was engaged in his prayer. So, even if one is praying and discovers someone looking at his family in his home, when the people inside are unaware of his presence, he may take action to stop the man, without interrupting his prayer. It is clear that the Prophet only threatened the man in this way, but we understand that if the man did not stop immediately, the Prophet would have aimed the arrow at him. This is within his right.
Another Hadith mentions that a man looked at the Prophet’s home from a hole in the door. The Prophet was scratching his head with a comb of a certain sort. When the Prophet saw the man, he said to him: “Had I known that you were looking at me, I would have hit you on your eyes with this.” He was referring to the comb. (Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Al-Nassaie and Al-Tirmidhi)
A similar Hadith is reported by Anas who says: “A man looked through a hole to see the inside of the Prophet’s home. The Prophet aimed at him a blade, so the man took his head away.” (Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Al-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawood and Al-Nassaie)
All these Hadiths are highly authentic. They confirm that any injury caused to a man peeping into some body’s home without permission will have no compensation, because the man is the offender, and the homeowner has the right to look after his family and property.
Arab News Islam 25 April 2003