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Aadaab of taking permission to enter a house or Majlis

Allah (swt) said: “O you who believe! Let your slaves and slave-girls, and those among you who have not come to the age of puberty ask your permission (before they enter your house) on three occasions: before Fajr salat, and while you put off your clothes for the noonday (rest), and after Isha’ salat. These three times are of privacy for you; other than these times there is no sin on you or on them to move about, attending to each other. Thus Allah (swt) makes clear the ayat to you, and Allah is All-knowing, All-wise.” [Nur (24): 58]

Allah (swt) says: “And if you find no one therein, still enter not until permission has been given. And if you are asked to go back, go back, for it is purer for you. And Allah is All-knower of what you do.” [24: 28]

- Do not enter a house that does not belong to you without permission, That is better for you
- Permission can be by salaam, knocking etc
- You need permission to enter
- Let the slaves and children take permission 3 times before Fajr salat
- And the time when you are usually resting at noon,
- And after the time of Isha Salat

Allah (swt) said: “And when the children among you come to puberty, then let them also ask for permission, as those senior to them (in age). Thus Allah (swt) makes clear his ayat for you. And Allah is All-Knowing, All-wise.” [24: 59]

The Prophet (saw) said: “The reason we take permission is so that we don’t see any awrah, the permission has been legislated for the sake of awrah not your eyes.”

1- YOU MUST GIVE SALUTATION (SALAAM) AND GREETING BEFORE ASKING PERMISSION

- You must give salutation and greeting before asking permission to enter
- Ask before you sit, don’t sit then greet,

“The Prophet (saw) sent someone with some milk and some food and the Prophet (saw) was at the time in Makkah, he said “I entered in without saying salaam to the Prophet (saw), the Prophet (saw) said “Go out and say salaam, then enter"”, so the Prophet sent him out so he may be corrected, (the principle is do not enter without salaam) so the man went out of the home of the Prophet (saw), then he came in correctly” Musnad Imam Ahmad 14999

“A (another) man said “I came to the Prophet (saw), he (saw) said “go out” the man said “can I enter like that” the Prophet (saw) said “go out, say salaam then enter.” Musnad Imam Ahmad 22617

ibn Abbas said: “Peace be upon (ie. Salam to) the messenger (saw) and the people of the house, can I enter with permission…” (ie. he asked the person to enter the house)

2- WHEN YOU KNOCK, TAKE THE LEFT OF THE DOOR OR THE RIGHT

- When you knock take the left of the door or the right,
- Don’t stand in front dead on
- Stand to the right a little distance or to the left until it is open

The Prophet (saw) said: “Knock and stand to one side,”

- He (saw) warned the sahabah that when the door opens you may see the awrah or privacy,
- So stand to the side and clear of the door so that you don’t see what you aren’t meant to see.

“The Prophet (saw) entered (the way mentioned above), he stood to the left and said salaam twice and moved to the side” Musnad Imam Ahmad 17239 , Abu Dawood

“A man came to the Prophet’s (saw) door, and asked permission, he stood face to face with the door, and asked to enter. The Prophet (saw) opened the door, said “stop there or stop here”, he said “the purpose is to prevent you seeing what you aren’t meant to see that is the purpose of permission”,

- This is the Sunnah

Abu Dawood 5174

3- IT IS FORBIDDEN TO LOOK IN THE HOUSE WITHOUT PERMISSION

- I.e. looking through the window
- In islam, if they look in without your permission, remove his eyes,
- Or attack him and he has no blood money.

Abu Huraira (ra) said: “Whosoever looks into others houses without permission, it is halal for them to remove his eye, the Prophet (saw) said this, and he has no (blood) money,” Saheeh Muslim 2158

- Don’t do it literally
- But this is qarina to say that is haram at the very least to look

Abu Huraira said: “If a man looks at you in your house without permission, (meaning you are covering the curtains and he still looks) and you throw a stone at him and damage his eye you are not sinful and he has no blood money.” Bukhari 6888

- Here he means anything of his, not just eyes

“A person looked into the house of the Prophet (saw), he (saw) grabbed a pair of scissors and wanted to stab him,”

- Don’t take it literally it means don’t do it.

Bukhari 6242 , Muslim 2157

4- ASK PERMISSION THREE TIMES

- Say salaam three times and ask “can I come” after each salaam,
- If There is no answer, go home don’t hang around waiting,
- If they say “no don’t come in”, then do that it is better for you
- When they give you permission on the first salaam, don’t ask a further two times, there is no need.
- Knock patiently not Harshly,
- Don’t knock strongly like the police and make all three knocks consistent.

Now how can we apply this to knocking on a door?

Today people think knocking or ringing doorbell is fine, in the time of the Prophet (saw) they were living in tents with curtains, so vocally asking permission was required a simple knock is not permission.

Abu Musa Al Ash’ari said:
The Prophet (saw) said: “If somebody asks permission three times and he did not grant permission, then go home, don’t camp there.” Bukhari 6245 , Muslim 2154

There is a famous incident between Khattab and Abu musa Al Ash’ari.

Abu musa Al Ash’ari was permitted to enter by ibn Khattab, he asked three times and he was permitted three times but he never heard it, and so he left.

- If you say salaam and ask “can I come in” three times and then you assume that he never heard you then in this case we follow the opinion that you should leave,
- But some fuqaha say he may ask permission again if he thinks that they never heard him,
- Imam Maalik said no it must be three times in accordance to the Ahadith

5- IT IS FORBIDDEN TO SAY “ITS ME” WITHOUT TO MENTION YOUR NAME

The Prophet (saw) forbade us to say this

Jabir came to Muhammad (saw), … “I said ‘its me’ three times, so the Prophet (saw) disliked that"…

- He should say “I am Husayn or the milkman or the postman etc.
- If somebody knocks he should not say “its me” but say “its so…and…so (by name)”
- It is the Sunnah of Muhammad (saw) (saw)

Bukhari 6250 , Muslim 2155

Abdullah ibn Burada reported form his Father

“The Prophet (saw) went to the mosque with Abu Musa, who was reciting so he came there and he knocked and he asked permission, he said “O Muhammad (saw), I am Burada” the Prophet (saw) said “this man, Allah (swt) gave him one of the psalms of Dawud (as)” …(and the Prophet (saw) also praised him for saying his name)”

- He was given psalms for reciting correctly
- It is rewardable to mention your name
- So do not say “its only me”.
- It is allowed for the one who asked permission to mention only his second name
- Especially for women it is better say “I am the mother of so…and…so” or the father of ,
- For children, give them a nickname even for yourself

Bukhari 793

“Muhammad (saw) was taking ghusl and Fatimah (ra) was giving him his clothes, I said salaam from outside, he (saw) said “who is it”, (the Prophet (saw) consented to her to mention her nickname) she said “I am mother of such and such"” Bukhari 357 , Muslim 336

Imam Nawawi said: “It is Acceptable for a judge or scholar or a mayor to mention his title without his nickname”

- Meaning he can say “i am the sheikh” or “…the judge” or “…the mayor” since he is the only one in the village
- But if you have 5 people called Umar then you need to deal with it differently
- You Must be distinguished,

The Prophet (saw) gave a khutbah for the women on Eid, and then went home, and Zainab (the wife of) ibn Mas’oud, came and asked to enter, she said “its Zainab”, he (saw) said “which Zainab, is it she the wife ibn Mas’oud?” Bukhari

6- DO NOT KNOCK WITH VIOLENCE

The Prophet (saw) said: “Knock the door with your fingers”

- i.e. tap, tap.

Ibn Hajr said that you should not knock violently, Bukhari 1080

There was a famous Salafi form the first and second generation, he had a situation where a woman knocked hard on his door, he came out and shouted at her

7- IF HE SAYS THAT HE IS BUSY, THEN GO BACK HAPPY

- If he tells you that he is busy, then go back happy you will get reward for that
- If you are unhappy you are sinful

Allah (swt) says: “And if you find no one therein, still enter not until permission has been given. And if you are asked to go back, go back, for it is purer for you. And Allah is All-knower of what you do.” [24: 28]

8- IT IS NOT ALLOWED TO ENTER IF NOBODY IS THERE

- If you go to a house and you give salaam three times and you think that it is ok and there is no awrah there, can you go in?
- NO, you still cannot, it is aggression against the rights of the owner if you do
- Do not enter,

[Kitaab Tafseer ibn Katheer: volume 3 p.281]

9- IF YOU ARE INVITED, YOU DO NOT NEED PERMISSION

- If somebody said “I want to meet”, and you need to come to him…
- You are invited, you don’t need to ask permission, because you have an invitation,
- This kind of permission was given by the messenger (saw)

Abu Dawood 5189

The Prophet (saw) said: “A messenger inviting you on behalf of another is your invitation.” Abu Dawood 5190

- If you send your son its fine, (you say “go and get so and so for me"), that is your invitation

10- YOU MUST ASK PERMISSION TO LEAVE

- You need to get permission to leave or you are sinful
- The Sunnah is to leave with permission so that you can show respect not just to get up and leave disrespecting people.
- Give a sigh at least so that the man can accept it,
- Even in talks (and any other majlis) we cannot get up and leave, say why first.
- It is not allowed to leave without permission, don’t do it

Abdullah ibn Umar said
The Prophet (saw) said: “if you visit a muslim brother and sit on a spot, then don’t leave that spot till you are told,”

- Don’t look around or move around you don’t have permission.

Bukhari, Muslim 113 , Albaani 314

- Do not to move unless told
- Ask for permission even before going to the toilet

11- YOU MUST TAKE PERMISSION BEFORE ENTERING INTO YOUR MOTHER OR SISTER’S HOUSE/ROOM

- You must take permission to enter upon your mother or your sister,
- Or your father or you brother who is at your level.
- Do not enter your sister’s room without permission
- The same is true for the sister; do not enter the room of your brother,
- Brother’s and sister’s do not enter the room without permission
- Applies to all parties including your parents

A man asked if he needs permission to see his mother, he (saw) said yes, you don’t want to see her naked,

- So take permission (son to his mother)
- It is recommend for the daughter to her mother,

ibn Abbas reported

“Do I need to ask permission to see my sister?”
He (saw) said “yes indeed”
He said: “(but) its my sister in her room, I spend on her,”
He (saw) said “yes, do you want to see her naked”
He said “no”
“Then ask"”

Bukhari 1059 (& 1060 & 1063)

12- IT IS RECOMMENDED TO GIVE NOTICE TO YOUR WIFE BEFORE YOU ENTER

- Don’t enter by surprise

[The Prophet (saw) in ibn katheer]

Zainab the wife of ibn Mas’oud said: “Whenever he used to come in, he use to give notice to his wife”

Imam Ahmad said: “if a man enters upon his family he should give notice he is there”

13- THE SLAVE UNDER THE CUSTODY OF A MAN AND THE CHILDREN

- The slave under he custody of the man, becoming his mahram and the children can enter without permission, because they can see the awrah
- However before Fajr, they must not come in without permission
- And at Zuhr and ‘Asr and Isha time they must not enter without permission
- The reason is the aura may be uncovered,

“He who does so (abides by these rules), Allah (swt) will spread your rizq” Abu Dawood 1592

From alghurabaa.co.uk