When the people to whom women can display their beauty are listed, their slaves are also listed. How should we understand it?

Dear Brother / Sister,

The aim of covering the body is to be protected from the glances of others and to avoid illegitimate sexual desires. The following is stated in the verse:

"Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that will make for greater purity for them." (an-Nur, 24/30)

The following is stated about women’s covering:

"And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband´s fathers, their sons, their husbands´ sons, their brothers or their brothers´ sons, or their sisters´ sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O ye Believers! Turn ye all together towards Allah, that ye may attain Bliss." (an-Nur, 24/31)

All of the parts of the body of the women except their faces and hands and including their hair are awrah. Their faces and hands are not awrah in prayer and outside prayer unless there is a fear of mischief. According to the sound view, their feet are not regarded as awrah either. For, feet are used on the way to walk and it is difficult to cover them for the poor. According to the sound view, women’s arms, ears and hairs that hang down need to be covered too.

"…They should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof..." (an-Nur, 24/31)

What is meant by the statement of the verse above are the places where jewels are worn; hands and faces are not included. The following is stated in a hadith:

"The woman is awrah; when she goes out, Satan seeks to tempt her." (Tirmidhi, Rada, 18).

The following hadith reported from Hz. Aisha includes hair too:

"Allah does not accept the prayer of an adult woman except with a head cover." (Ibn Majah, Taharah, 132; Tirmidhi, Salah, 160)

The people in whose presence a woman does not have to cover all of her body:

The Quran lists all of the mahram men in whose presence women can show their beauty and ornaments except their husbands one by one. The wisdom behind it is the fact that women need to together with those people all the time. Those men live together with the woman due to kinship and mischief is not in question. 

The mahram men for a woman are as follows:

1. Her husband. It is permissible for a woman’s husband to look at all parts of her body. He can make use of all of her organs except one that is mentioned in the verse.

Qurtubi states the following:

«The husband of a woman and the master of a female slave can look at all parts of her body and make use of all of her organs except one. Therefore, Allah starts to list the men in whose presence she can show her beauty and ornaments by the husband.» (1)

2. Her father and grandfathers. The decree is the same for fathers of a woman’s mother and father.

3. Her husband’s father.

4. Her own children, her husband’s children and her grandchildren.

5. Her brothers. It does not matter whether they are half brothers or full brothers.

6. Her sisters and brothers’ children.

All of those listed above are mahram men for a woman. It is permissible for her to open her beauty and ornaments in their presence.

Allah does not mention the decree about paternal and maternal uncles in this verse. According to all fiqh scholars, the decree about paternal and maternal uncles are the same as the ones listed above in terms of being mahram. Paternal and maternal uncles are not listed separately in the verse since they are like fathers. For, a paternal uncle is generally addressed as father. As a matter of fact, Allah states in the Quran that the children of Hz. Yaqub state the following to answer their father’s question: 

« We shall worship Thy god and the god of thy fathers, of Abraham, Isma´il and Isaac,- the one (True) Allah.» (al-Baqara, 2/133)

As it is known, Hz. Ismail is Hz. Yaqub’s paternal uncle, not father. However, since a paternal uncle is like father, he is mentioned as father in the verse.

The male relatives listed in the verse are mahram for a woman; the same milk relatives are also mahram for her. For, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,   

«The women who are haram to marry through kinship are also haram to marry through milk kinship.»

We will explain the decrees about the female slaves of the women, their servants that do not need women and children who are not aware of sex separately.

The awrah of a Muslim woman in the presence of a non-Muslim woman:

Fiqh scholars have different views regarding the issue. According to some scholars, what is meant by the phrase «their women» in the verse is «Muslim women». This is the view of the majority of salaf. (2)

Qurtubi states the following:

«What is meant by the phrase «their women» in the verse is «Muslim women»; therefore, it is not permissible for a believing woman to display any parts of her body in the presence of a polytheist, dhimmi and unbelieving woman. However, the decree about female slaves is an exception."

«According to some scholars, it is makruh for a Christian woman to kiss a Muslim woman or for a Muslim woman to show her awrah places to a polytheist woman. For, Hz. Umar stated the following in a letter he wrote to Abu Ubayda bin Jarrah, the governor of Syria: «According to the news that reached me, the Muslim women have a bath in the same public bath together with dhimmi women. Prevent it because it is not permissible for a dhimmi woman to see a Muslim woman naked.» When Abu Ubayda received this letter, he gathered the people and addressed them as follows: «If a Muslim woman goes to a public bath with dhimmi woman without an excuse only to clean herself, Allah will make her face black on the day when He makes the faces of the Muslims white.»» (3)

Ibn Abbas says,

«It is haram for Muslim women to show their bodies to Jewish or Christian women because they will tell their husbands about the qualities of Muslim women.» (4)

According to some scholars, what is meant by the phrase «their women in the verse is all women whether Muslim or dhimmi.» Alusi quotes the following from Fakhruddin Razi: «What is meant by their women is all women whether Muslim or unbeliever.» Alusi, states that Fakhruddin Razi reports the following from salaf scholars: «What is meant by the phrase their women is Muslim women. Accordingly, a Muslim woman needs to cover herself in the presence of non-Muslim women as she covers herself in the presence of non-mahram men.» This covering is understood to be sunnah, not fard.» (5)

Mawdudi writes the following regarding the issue:

"Allah used the phrase «their women» instead of «women». If He had used the word «women» only, it would have been permissible for Muslim women to show the parts of their body that are not haram to open in the presence of other women whether unbelievers or believers. However, Allah used the phrase «their women» in the verse. Thus, a boundary was imposed on free Muslim women about displaying their beauty."

"There is a disagreement among tafsir and fiqh scholars about this special boundary. According to some scholars the phrase «their women» means only Muslim women. This is the view of Ibn Abbas, Mujahid and Ibn Jarir. They base their view on the letter Hz. Umar wrote to Abu Ubayda."

"According to another group of scholars, what is meant by their women are all women. According to Fakhruddin Razi, this is the soundest view."

"According to another group of scholars, what is meant by their women are the women that they know, speak and work with. There is no difference in terms of decree whether those women are Muslim or not. The women that are not included in the scope of the phrase «their women» in the verse are the women who are not known and whose characteristics are not known. Difference of religion is not in question. In that case, it is permissible for a Muslim woman to display her beauty and ornaments in the presence of a chaste Christian woman with high ethics that she knows. However, it is fard for a Muslim woman to cover her beauty and ornaments in the presence of immoral and immodest women who cannot be trusted and who act freely toward non-mahram men (even if they are Muslims). For the harm caused by such women is not less than the harm caused by men.»(6)

The third view mentioned by Mawdudi is more logical and sounder. If Muslim women act in accordance with that view, they will protect their honor better and it will save them from the evil and seductions of the women who imitate the West.

Can a free woman display her beauty and ornaments in the presence of her slave?

The phrase «the slaves whom their right hands possess» in the verse includes male and female slaves. Accordingly, a free woman can display her beauty and ornaments in the presence of her slaves. Some scholars decreed like that. That is the view of Shafiis. For, Ibn Hajar al-Haytami states the following in his book called Tuhfatul-Minhaj: «A slave can look at his lady and see her beauty.»

According to Imam Abu Hanifa and Imam Hanbal, a slave is like a non-mahram man related to his lady. It is not permissible for him to look at the beauty of his lady. Accordingly, "what is meant by the slaves whom their right hands possess in the verse are not all slaves but female slaves."

They base this view on the following statement reported from Said bin Musayyab about the interpretation of this verse: «Do not be deceived by the verse in the chapter of an-Nur. For it is only for women, not men.» (7) For, male slaves are not mahram. They also desire women. Then, it is not permissible for ladies to display their beauty and ornaments in the presence of their male slaves.

According to Imam Abu Hanifa and Imam Hanbal, the reason why female slaves are mentioned in the verse is to prevent people from thinking that it is not permissible for a free woman to display her beauty and ornaments in the presence of her female slaves since only mahram men are mentioned in the verse. That the phrase «the slaves whom their right hands possess» is mentioned in the verse eliminates this misunderstanding. 

Ibn Abbas says it is permissible for a male slave to see the hair of her lady. Imam Malik also holds this view.

Imam Shafii bases his view above on the following hadith reported from Anas bin Malik: «The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) took the slave that he donated to Hz. Fatima to her. Hz. Fatima had a short covering on her. When she covered her hair, her feet were open; when she lowered it, her hair remained open. When the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) saw it, he said, «There is no drawback to it because he is your servant.»» (8)

Who are the men free of physical needs mentioned in the verse?

The verse mentions the men who do not need women as an exception to non-mahram men. It is permissible for women to display their beauty and ornaments in the presence of the men who do not know what womanhood is and who do not feel any desires toward women. For, they do not look at women with lust. We will quote the views of some Companions, Tabiun and tafsir scholars to understand the verse well and to show who are meant by the verse.

According to Ibn Abbas, what is meant by «the men who do not need women» are the men who do not need women at all.

According to Qatada, they are the men who come home only to eat.  

According to Mujahid, they are the men who think about their stomach only and who do not know what being a woman means.  

There are many more views regarding the issue. All of them state that what is meant by «the men who do not need women» mentioned in the verse are men who have lost their manhood or who do not know anything about sexuality.

Bukhari and other hadith scholars narrate the following from Hz. Aisha and Hz. Umm Salama:

«A khunsa (hermaphrodite) used to visit the wives of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). They regarded this khunsa as a person who did not need women. Once, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) saw this khunsa with his brother Abdullah Ibn Abi Ummiya in Umm Salama’s room. The Khunsa said to Abdullah, «If Allah enables us to conquer Taif, marry Ghaylan's daughter. She is equal to four women.» Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, «O enemy of Allah! You have looked at that woman a lot.» Then, he turned to Umm Salama and said, «Do not let this man in again.»»

The children in the presence of whom women do not have to cover their bodies

Scholars have different views regarding the phrase «small children who have no sense of the shame of sex» in the verse.

According to some scholars, they are the children who have not reached the age of puberty yet.

According to some other scholars, they are the children who cannot distinguish between the parts of the women that are secret and not secret. The second view is sounder. For, what is meant by the children in the verse are the small children who do not have sexual consciousness about women’s body, attitudes and acts. It is more appropriate for women to cover their bodies in the presence of a child who is aware of the secret places of the women even if he has not reached the age of puberty.   

Footnotes:

(1) Qurtubi, Tafsir, XII / 231.
(2) Fakhruddin Razi, Tafsir, XXIII / 174, 207.
(3) Qurtubi, ibid, XII / 233.
(4) ibid.
(5) Alusi, Tafsir, XIX / 143.
(6) Mawdudi, from tafsir of the chapter of an-Nur (in summary).
(7) Alusi, ibid. XVIII / 144; Qurtubi, ibid, XII / 234.
(8) Bayhaqi and Abu Dawud.

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