Draft:Verse of Isti'dhan
 | |
| Verse's Information | |
|---|---|
| Name | Verse of Isti'dhan |
| Sura | Sura al-Nur |
| Verse | 58 |
| Juz' | 18 |
| Page | 357 |
| Topic | Family Relations |
The Verse of Istiʾdhān (Arabic: آيَة ٱلِٱسْتِئْذَان, Verse of Seeking Permission) is verse 58 of Sura al-Nur, which refers to the necessity for children and slaves to seek permission when entering the private room of their father and mother or master. "Istiʾdhān" means asking for permission, hence the name of this verse. Some have not considered the title "Istiʾdhān" exclusive to this verse, due to the mention of seeking permission in other verses.
Commentators believe this verse touches on these points: A man must dedicate private time to his wife and children and servants must also respect this privacy. Children must know and observe family rulings and parents are responsible for teaching religious rulings to their children. Based on this verse, some Muslim jurists have considered seeking permission by children and slaves when entering the private room of parents or masters as obligatory. However, some jurists have not considered it obligatory or have considered it specific to certain times.
Text and Translation
Translation: O you who have faith! Let your slaves and those of you who have not reached puberty ask your permission [to enter] at three times: before the dawn prayer, and when you take off your garments at noon, and after the night prayer. These are three times of privacy for you. Apart from these [three times], there is no sin upon you or upon them, for you to visit one another frequently. Thus does Allah clarify the signs for you, and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. (Sura al-Nur, Verse 58)
Naming
The word "istiʾdhān" is derived from the root "idhn" and means asking for permission.[1] According to the view of some commentators, the Verse of Istiʾdhān, which was revealed regarding the permission of slaves and children to enter the private room of their master and parents at three specific times, is verse 58 of Sura al-Nur.[2] These three times, as mentioned in the text of the verse, are before the Fajr prayer, before the Zuhr prayer, and after the Isha prayer.[3] However, some others have also identified the title "Verse of Istiʾdhān" with Verse 62 of Sura al-Nur, concerning the permission sought by some Muslims during the Battle of the Trench or the Battle of Tabuk.[4] The content of this verse is among the ethical commands of Islam.[5]
Exegetical Points and Messages
- The meaning of the phrase "wa ḥīna taḍaʿūna thiyābakum min al-ẓahīra" (and when you take off your garments at noon) refers to undressing, which is a metonymy for being in a state where one does not like a stranger to see them.[6]
- The word "ʿawra" means defect/fault. It is called ʿawra because everyone feels shame in revealing it, and perhaps the intention in the noble verse is anything that deserves to be covered.[7]
- From the expression "alladhīna malakat aymānukum" (those whom your right hands possess), it is inferred that it refers only to male slaves (since the pronoun "alladhīna" is for men, not bondswomen, and only men must enter the resting place of a husband and wife with permission at these three times, although bondswomen can also be included in the ruling by way of taghlib (predominance). Narrations also indicate the restriction of the ruling of Istiʾdhān to male slaves.[8]
- The meaning of "wa-alladhīna lam yablughū al-ḥuluma minkum" (and those of you who have not reached puberty), based on the context clue "thalāthu ʿawrāt lakum" (three times of privacy for you), refers to children who have not reached puberty but are able to distinguish between privacy/nakedness and non-privacy.[9]
Muhsin Qara'ati, a Quranic commentator, has derived messages from the verse in Tafsir-i Nūr, some of which are: The ones responsible for teaching religious rulings to children are the believing parents ("O you who have faith..."). The parents' sleeping place, if separate from children, requires permission to enter. Childhood and slavery are not excuses for violating others' privacy. A man must dedicate times during the day and night to his wife. Non-baligh children must also know and observe family rulings.[10] Allama Tabataba'i considered the command in the verse directed at guardians and parents, who must convey the divine command to their servants and children.[11] However, Muḥaqqiq Ardabili considered the addressees in the verse to be the children themselves, to whom the divine command is directly addressed.[12]
Ruling of Isti'dhan
There is a difference of opinion regarding whether it is obligatory or recommended for children and slaves to seek permission from parents and the master when entering their private room. Based on Verse 59 of Sura al-Nur, the ruling of permission and Istiʾdhān is obligatory for adults (those who have reached puberty) and is not specific to a particular time; but the obligation of this ruling for non-baligh children is considered by some to be specific to these three special times, even though the non-baligh child is not yet considered religiously responsible.[13]
Amīn al-Islam Ṭabrasi in Tafsīr Majmaʿ al-bayān quoted from Jubbāʾi that the verse indicates the obligation of Istiʾdhān for adults in all situations and for children at these three specific times.[14] Muḥaqqiq Ardabili, although raising the possibility of Istiʾdhān being recommended for children and non-balighs (as guidance and education), ultimately considered the obligation of Istiʾdhān from the verse as definitive for adults, and understood from the appearance of the verse that it is also obligatory for children.[15] Muṭahhari, a Shi'a jurist and commentator, did not consider the Verse of Istiʾdhān specific to houses where a wife is present (the shared living space of a man and his wife) and considered the scope of the verse broader, based on the principle that everyone must have absolute control over the interior of their life.[16]
Some commentators have not restricted the prohibition of entering the private space of men and women without permission to these three times, and have rejected the implication of the phrase "apart from these [three times], there is no sin upon you or upon them" as allowing entry without permission at other times. They considered seeking permission (in case of knowledge or assumption of conditions requiring permission) obligatory at other times as well.[17]
Sayyid Muhammad Taqi al-Modarresi is of the opinion that from the expression "three times of privacy for you" (thalāthu ʿawrāt lakum), we understand that the ruling of impermissibility of entering without permission the resting place of a husband and wife covers all times of privacy, even if it is at other times, and this depends on the custom of each group. Therefore, if among some people the time of rest is after the morning prayer and not before it—as many families are today—the ruling of asking permission applies to that time as well.[18]
Notes
- ↑ Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, al-Mufradāt, p. 15; Dihkhudā, Lughat-nāma, vol. 2, p. 2202.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 29, p. 83.
- ↑ Qurbānī Lāhījī, Tafsīr-i jāmiʿ-i āyāt al-aḥkām, vol. 9, p. 245.
- ↑ Kāshānī, Khulāṣat manhaj al-ṣādiqīn, vol. 4, p. 21; Ḥarīrī, Farhang-i iṣṭilāḥāt-i Qurʾānī, p. 12.
- ↑ Qurbānī Lāhījī, Tafsīr-i jāmiʿ-i āyāt al-aḥkām, vol. 9, p. 240.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 15, p. 163.
- ↑ Mūsawī Hamadānī, Tarjuma-yi tafsīr-i al-Mīzān, vol. 15, p. 226.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 15, p. 163.
- ↑ Ṭabrasī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 7, p. 269; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 15, p. 163.
- ↑ Qarāʾatī, Tafsīr-i nūr, vol. 6, p. 211.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 15, p. 163.
- ↑ Ardabilī, Zubdat al-bayān, p. 550.
- ↑ Muqaddas Ardabilī, Zubdat al-bayān, p. 550; Qurbānī Lāhījī, Tafsīr-i jāmiʿ-i āyāt al-aḥkām, vol. 9, p. 244.
- ↑ Ṭabrasī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 7, p. 269.
- ↑ Muqaddas Ardabilī, Zubdat al-bayān, p. 550.
- ↑ Muṭahharī, Yāddāsht-hā, vol. 3, p. 156.
- ↑ Ālūsī, Rūḥ al-maʿānī, vol. 9, p. 404.
- ↑ Mudarrisī, Aḥkām-i khānavāda wa ādāb-i izdiwāj, p. 21.
References
- Ālūsī, Maḥmūd b. ʿAbd Allāh al-. Rūḥ al-maʿānī fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿaẓīm. Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1415 AH.
- Ardabilī, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al-. Zubdat al-bayān fī aḥkām al-Qurʾān. Tehran, Maktabat al-Murtaḍawiyya, n.d.
- Dihkhudā, ʿAlī Akbar. Lughat-nāma. Tehran, Intishārāt-i Dānishgāh-i Tihrān, 1377 Sh.
- Ḥarīrī, Muḥammad Yūsuf. Farhang-i iṣṭilāḥāt-i Qurʾānī. Qom, Hijrat, 1384 Sh.
- Kāshānī, Fatḥ Allāh. Khulāṣat manhaj al-ṣādiqīn. Tehran, Islāmiyya, 1363 Sh.
- Mudarrisī, Muḥammad Taqī. Aḥkām-i khānavāda wa ādāb-i izdiwāj. Qom, Intishārāt-i Muḥibbān al-Ḥusayn (a), 1388 Sh.
- Mūsawī Hamadānī, Muḥammad Bāqir. Tarjuma-yi tafsīr-i al-Mīzān. Qom, Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 1374 Sh.
- Muṭahharī, Murtaḍā. Yāddāsht-hā-yi Ostād Muṭahharī. Tehran, Ṣadrā, n.d. (Sāmāna-yi Jāmiʿ-i Ostād Shahīd Muṭahharī).
- Najafī, Muḥammad Ḥasan al-. Jawāhir al-kalām fī sharḥ sharāʾiʿ al-Islām. Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1362 Sh.
- Qarāʾatī, Muḥsin. Tafsīr-i nūr. Tehran, Markaz-i Farhangī-yi Dars-hāyī az Qurʾān, 1383 Sh.
- Qurbānī Lāhījī, Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn. Tafsīr-i jāmiʿ-i āyāt al-aḥkām. Tehran, Sāya, 1384 Sh.
- Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad al-. Al-Mufradāt fī gharīb al-Qurʾān. Qom, Daftar-i Nashr-i al-Kitāb, 1404 AH.
- Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut, Manshūrāt Ismāʿīliyān, n.d.
- Ṭabrasī, Faḍl b. Ḥasan al-. Majmaʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut, Muʾassasat al-Aʿlamī lil-Maṭbūʿāt, 1415 AH.