Islamic Fiqh > Marriage and family > Looking, touching and khalwa > Looking at the unrelated woman for a legitimate reason
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Updated on 25 September 2026 at 3:23 PM
This part belongs to the full section: All sections of this part.
The jurists do not disagree: looking at the young unrelated woman is lawful for need and necessity, even at what is normally forbidden to look at.
The Hanafis said: the judge who wants to rule against her and the witness who wants to testify against her may look at her face even if they fear desire, for they are compelled to it for establishing testimony; basis: the witnesses of fornication who must look at the intimate part to establish their testimony; yet looking at a free woman's intimate part exceeds looking at her face, and its prohibition is nonetheless lifted by necessity: all the more this one.
Touching her face or hands is not permitted even if safe from desire, because of the presence of the prohibition and the absence of necessity, unlike looking which involves necessity; touching is graver than looking and desire in it is greater; this if she is a desirable young woman. If she is an undesirable old woman, there is no harm in shaking her hand and touching her hand, for lack of fear of temptation.
As for looking to bear testimony if he desires: some say lawful, as in performing testimony; the sounder view: not lawful, for one can find someone who does not desire to testify: thus no necessity (Bada'i' al-Sana'i', 5/122; Al-Hidaya, 4/83-84; Tabyin al-Haqa'iq, 6/18; Al-Inaya, 14/231; Al-Bahr al-Ra'iq, 8/219; Al-Jawhara al-Nayyira, 6/359-360).
The physician may look at the place of her illness when treating, for it is a place of necessity; if it is the intimate part, a woman should be appointed to treat her. If no woman is found and they fear for her death or an unbearable affliction, everything is covered except the affected place, then the man treats her while lowering his gaze, except from the place of the wound; the same applies to the look of the midwife and the circumciser.
The Malikis said: looking at the young woman is lawful for an excuse, such as testifying about her when she sells, buys or marries: the witnesses may look at her to ascertain her features and record them: those of the face, teeth and height; this if they do not know her; if they know her, they do not look at her and content themselves with hearing her speech; likewise if an informer describes her to them and they acquire knowledge.
Ibn Sh'aban said: only a witness who has reached sixty years should testify for a young woman or against her; testifying for her includes testifying about a wound on her, whether it is mortal or not; and resembling testifying against her is the look of the physician and surgeon if it concerns the face or the hands and feet; as for the intimate part, it is not permitted.
If the wound is elsewhere in the body: some say he places the cloth over it and looks; others say only women look. Al-Nafrawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: if the physician's object is in her intimate part, he slits the garment at the painful place for the physician to see, apparently even if the disease is at the intimate part, by necessity; it is recommended or obligatory that, if the physician can know it only by seeing it himself, this be done; but if he contents himself with the women's seeing and describing it, I do not think anyone would permit a man to see a woman's intimate part.
If what is testified about belongs to the types of defects in the wife alleged by the husband: if they are on her face or hands, the men testify; if on her back, belly or anything other than her intimate part, only the women testify, and the men's seeing it is not permitted even with her consent; if it is at her intimate part, the woman's word is accepted in denying it, unless the women are enabled to see her intimate part and their testimony accepted (Al-Fawaqid al-Dawani, 2/277; see Al-Durr al-Thamin, 557; Al-Mi'yara al-Mu'rib, 1/399-400; al-Zurruq's commentary on the Risala, 2/993).
The Shafi'is said: looking and touching are lawful for the need requiring them: bloodletting, cupping, circumcision, childbirth, treatment, even at the intimate part for the compelling need, for prohibition would then involve hardship; a man may thus treat a woman and vice versa, in the presence of a mahram, a husband or a trusted woman.
Required: the absence of a woman able to perform it, and vice versa; that he not be a dhimmi while a Muslim exists; and that she not be a non-Muslim unrelated woman while a Muslim woman exists, on the sounder view. If only a non-Muslim woman and a Muslim man are found to treat her, the apparent, per al-Adhri'i, is that the non-Muslim woman is preferred, for her look and touch are lighter than the man's. The physician is required to be trustworthy: he is not passed over for another if present; he must be safe from infatuation and uncover only as much as the need requires.
In looking at the face and hands, absolute need is taken into account; for other than them, confirmed necessity, such as what permits tayammum, like severe illness. In looking at the two private parts, an even stronger necessity is required: that not uncovering them would not be a breach of decorum.
The unrelated man's look is lawful at the face only for a transaction, sale or otherwise, and for testimony, in bearing and performing it; to the point that looking at the intimate part is lawful for testifying to fornication and childbirth, and at the breast for testifying to suckling. If he looked at her and bore testimony, she is asked to uncover her face at the performing of testimony if he does not recognize her under her veil; if he recognizes her, uncovering is not required. Looking at the pubic area of a disbeliever's child is permitted to check whether hair has grown; and women may look at a man's member if the woman alleges his impotence and he refuses her access to it.
All this when he does not fear temptation; if he fears it, he does not look, unless it is incumbent upon him: he then looks while controlling himself. Looking for teaching and learning is lawful, whether obligatory or recommended; likewise crafts that are needed, provided no person of like kind or sound mahram is available, it is impossible to dispense with it behind a partition, and a third party is present preventing seclusion. Looking at a slave girl the man wants to buy, or a slave the woman wants to buy, is lawful; like the judge who administers the oath to the woman and rules against her.
In all these cases the look is measured by the need: what necessity permits is measured by its extent. In a transaction he looks at the face only; when buying a slave girl or a slave, at everything except what is between the navel and the knees; one does not go beyond a single look, unless he needs a second to verify: then it is permitted. And whatever is prohibited to look at when joined is prohibited to look at separately: such as pubic hair, even a man's, and the clipping of a free woman's nail, even from her own hands (Al-Hawi al-Kabir, 9/35-36; Al-Bayan, 9/129; Rawdat al-Talibin, 4/670; Al-Najm al-Wahhaj, 7/33; Mughni al-Muhtaj, 4/224-225; Tuhfat al-Muhtaj, 8/506-507; Nihayat al-Muhtaj, 6/228-229; Al-Dibaj, 3/175-176).
Al-Izz ibn Abd al-Salam (may Allah have mercy on him) said: covering intimate parts and defects is obligatory; it is among the noblest manly virtues and the most beautiful habits, especially toward unrelated women; but it is permitted for necessities and needs. The needs: like each spouse's looking at the other; the owner's look at his slave girl who will become lawful to him, and hers at him; the witnesses' look to bear testimony; the physicians' look for treatment; the look at the wife sought in marriage before the contract if her consent is hoped.
Looking is also lawful for establishing the rites of religion, such as circumcision and applying the punishment to fornicators; once the observer of the two fornicators has verified the penetration of the glans into the intimate part, looking becomes prohibited thereafter, for there is no need; likewise once the witness knows the defect or the physician the disease: looking beyond is no longer lawful, for what is lawful only by necessity or need is measured by its measure and ceases with it.
The necessities: such as amputating gangrenous limbs and treating mortal wounds. In looking at repulsive things, a stronger need is required, because of their ugliness, than for other intimate parts; likewise looking at women's defects requires, by necessity and need, more than looking at men's defects, because of the fear of infatuation it involves; and looking at what borders the knees of the thighs is not like looking at the buttocks (Qawa'id al-Ahkam fi Masalih al-Anam, 2/140-141).
The Hanbalis said: the witness may look at what is testified about, in bearing and performing testimony, when he is required to, so that the testimony falls on his own eyes. Ahmad said: one does not testify against a woman unless he has known her with his own eyes. Looking at her face and hands is lawful with need, for whoever deals with her in sale, hire, loan or the like: he looks at her face to recognize her and later enforce his claim.
A disapproval is reported from Imam Ahmad concerning the young woman, not the old one. Ibn Qudama (may Allah have mercy on him) said: perhaps he disliked it for one who fears temptation or dispenses with the transaction; but with need and absence of desire there is no harm (Al-Mughni, 7/77-78).
The physician's look and touch are lawful at whatever the need requires, down to the outside and inside of her intimate part, for it is a place of need, even if a dhimmi; and let it be in the presence of a mahram or a husband, for with seclusion the commission of the forbidden cannot be ruled out, by the Prophet's (peace be upon him) words:
"No man must be alone with a woman except that the devil is the third of them."Reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim
He covers of her everything other than the place of need, for it is originally prohibited. Resembling the physician: the one who serves a sick man or woman for ablution, purification and other; the one who rescues her from drowning or burning; the one who shaves the pubic hair of one who cannot do it properly, even a dhimmi; likewise for ascertaining virginity, defloration or puberty.
The Prophet (peace be upon him), having appointed Sa'd as arbiter for the Banu Qurayza, "used to uncover their waist-wraps" to check the growth of hair. And Othman, to whom a boy who had stolen was brought, said: "Look at his waist-wrap"; they found no hair and he did not cut [his hand] (Al-Mughni, 7/77-78; Al-Furu', 5/109; Al-Insaf, 8/22; Kashshaf al-Qina', 5/12; Sharh Muntaha al-Iradat, 5/105; Matalib Uli al-Nuha, 5/14-15; Manar al-Sabil, 2/537).
Al-Khatib al-Shirbini (may Allah have mercy on him) raises the question: is looking at the veiled woman from whom nothing appears but her eyes and eyebrows prohibited or not? Al-Adhri'i said: I found no explicit text on it; the apparent is that there is no difference, especially if she is beautiful: "how many temptations lurk behind the eyebrows!". And this is an apparent view (Mughni al-Muhtaj, 4/218; Nihayat al-Muhtaj, 6/218).
A man's look at the undesirable old woman: the jurists differ. The majority overall, namely the Hanafis, Malikis, Hanbalis and some Shafi'is, hold that looking at her is lawful. The Hanafis even permitted touching: touching being stronger than looking, indeed all the more; if touching is permitted, looking is a fortiori (Al-Mabsut, 10/154; Bada'i' al-Sana'i', 5/123; Al-Hidaya, 4/84; Tabyin al-Haqa'iq, 6/18; Al-Bunaya, 12/132; Al-Jawhara al-Nayyira, 6/358; Al-Bahr al-Ra'iq, 8/319; Ibn Abidin's Hashiya, 6/368).
The Malikis said: looking at the senescent woman is lawful, that is, the old woman in whom men have no desire; she need not veil herself, her desire for marriage having ceased; looking at her is permitted only to one whose heart is not feared to become attached to her, like the young man, even without excuse, for safety from what seeing a young woman produces. The evidence is Allah the Most High's word:
"And as for women advanced in age who no longer hope for marriage, no blame attaches to them for putting aside their garments, without displaying adornment"
Surah an-Nur, 60
That is, adorned with hidden adornment, such as a necklace or an anklet. As for the old man, he may not look at her except with an excuse, for he may desire her; and it has come: "for every fallen woman there is a catcher" (Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani's Risala, 1/158; Mawahib al-Jalil, 2/190; Al-Fawaqid al-Dawani, 2/313; Jami' al-Ummahat, 1/569; Al-Qawanin al-Fiqhiyya, 1/294; Ashhal al-Madarik, 3/226).
The Hanbalis said: looking at the one who is not desired is permitted, such as the undesirable old woman, the undesirable woman with a defect, the undesirable bald woman, the ugly one and their like, like an undesirable sick woman whose recovery is not hoped for, up to but excluding the intimate part of prayer (Kashshaf al-Qina', 5/11; Sharh Muntaha al-Iradat, 5/104; Manar al-Sabil, 2/533).
Ibn Qudama (may Allah have mercy on him) chose that he may look at her at what usually appears: the undesirable old woman: looking at what usually appears of her is lawful, by Allah's word: "And as for women advanced in age who no longer hope for marriage" (Surah an-Nur, 60). Ibn Abbas said about "Tell the believing men to lower their gaze" and "And tell the believing women to lower their gaze": it was abrogated, and excepted from it the old women who no longer hope for marriage; what looking is prohibited for being absent in her, she resembles the mahrams; likewise the women with undesired defects.
Whoever has lost desire for women through age, illness or effeminacy has the mahram's ruling in looking, by Allah's word: "or attendants among men without desire" (Surah an-Nur, 31), that is, one who has no desire for women; thus Mujahid and Qatada explained it, and likewise Ibn Abbas.
Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "An effeminate man used to enter upon the wives of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and he was counted among those without desire. The Prophet (peace be upon him) entered upon us while he was describing a woman: when she comes forward she advances on four; when she turns away she turns on eight. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Do I not see that this man knows what is here? This one must not enter upon you" (authentic chain; Ahmad, 25226). He had permitted his entering when counting him among those without desire; when he learned that from him, he veiled him (Al-Mughni, 7/78; Al-Kafi, 3/7).
The Shafi'is on the sahih hold that looking at the old woman is not permitted at all, neither her face nor her hands, without reason: there is no fallen woman without a catcher; hence ablution is broken by touching her; and for the undesirable old woman there may be someone who wants and desires her. Al-Nawawi said: al-Ghazali assimilated the old woman to the young one, desire not being restrained and she being a place of intercourse. Al-Ruyani said: when she reaches an age at which one is safe from the temptation of looking at her, looking at her face and hands is lawful, by "And as for women advanced in age" (Rawdat al-Talibin, 4/665).
Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (may Allah have mercy on him) said: al-Adhri'i's choice, the opinion of a group licensing looking at the face and hand of an old woman whose looker is safe from temptation, by "And as for women advanced in age", is weak: what has passed of blocking the way and of "for every fallen woman there is a catcher" refutes it; the verse contains no indication of it, but rather a hint of prohibition by the restriction "without displaying adornment".
And the visiting of Abu Bakr and Anas to Umm Ayman, likewise the companionship of Sufyan and Rabi'a (may Allah be pleased with them), does not entail looking; such people are not a standard for others, which is why seclusion was permitted for their like (Tuhfat al-Muhtaj, 8/489-490; see Nihayat al-Muhtaj, 6/218; Al-Najm al-Wahhaj, 7/20; Mughni al-Muhtaj, 4/218).
The jurists differ on shaking hands with the undesirable old woman; as for the young woman, shaking her hand without a barrier is not permitted at all, nor touching anything of her body. If there is a barrier and safety from temptation, the Shafi'is permit the handshake: it is lawful with a barrier and safety, and touching without a barrier is prohibited even with safety (Tuhfat al-Muhtaj, 8/498; Nihayat al-Muhtaj, 6/222; Al-Dibaj, 3/172).
As for the old woman, the Hanafis and Hanbalis permit the handshake. The Hanafis said: if she is an old woman who is not desired, there is no harm in shaking her hand and touching her hand, for lack of fear of temptation. It is reported that Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him), during his caliphate, would go out to tribes among which he had been nursed and shake hands with the old women (deemed rare by al-Zayla'i in Nasb al-Raya, 4/240); and when Abdallah ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) fell ill in Mecca, he hired an old woman to nurse him: she would massage his legs and stroke his head (deemed rare by al-Zayla'i, 4/240).
The prohibition being grounded on fear of temptation, if she is of those who are not desired, this fear is absent; likewise if he is himself old and safe in himself and regarding her: shaking her hand is unproblematic; if he does not feel safe that she might desire, it is not permitted to shake her hand and expose her to temptation, as it is not permitted if he fears for himself. As for looking at her with desire, it is not lawful at all, except in necessity.
In sum: for the lawfulness of touching, one narration requires both to be old and safe; another suffices with one of them being old and safe: if one of them is not desired, touching is not a cause of falling into temptation, as with the child. The reason for the first: if the young man feels no desire at touching the old woman, the old woman desires the young man, knowing the means of intercourse: this leads to the completion of one of the two sides, which is prohibited; unlike the case where one of them is a child, which does not lead to the completion of both sides, the old one feeling no desire at touching the child.
Hence, when a little boy or girl dies, the woman washes him and the man washes her, so long as she has not reached the age of desire; likewise looking at the child and touching are permitted if he is not desired (Al-Mabsut, 10/154; Bada'i' al-Sana'i', 5/123; Al-Hidaya, 4/84; Tabyin al-Haqa'iq, 6/18; Al-Bunaya, 12/132; Al-Jawhara al-Nayyira, 6/358; Al-Bahr al-Ra'iq, 8/319; Ibn Abidin's Hashiya, 6/368).
The Hanbalis said: shaking hands with the young unrelated woman is not permitted, for it is worse than looking; as for the old woman, the man may shake her hand. It was said: shaking hands with women is disapproved. Ibn Muflih (may Allah have mercy on him) said: as for the young woman, shaking her hand is prohibited for the man, as mentioned in al-Fusul and al-Ri'aya.
Ibn Mansur asked Abu Abdillah (Ahmad): do you disapprove of shaking hands with women? He said: I dislike it. Ishaq ibn Rahawayh said the like. Muhammad ibn Abdallah ibn Mahran reports that Abu Abdillah was asked about a man shaking hands with a woman; he said: no, and stressed it strongly; he was asked: even through his garment? He said: no. Here then are two narrations on the prohibition and disapproval of shaking hands with women; the prohibition is the choice of Shaykh Taqi al-Din (Ibn Taymiyya), who reasoned that touching is more consequential than looking (Al-Adab al-Shar'iyya, 2/246; see Al-Furu', 5/113; Al-Insaf, 8/32; Kashshaf al-Qina', 2/179-180 and 5/15; Sharh Muntaha al-Iradat, 5/111; Matalib Uli al-Nuha, 5/20; Manar al-Sabil, 2/542).
The Malikis and Shafi'is hold that shaking hands with the old woman without a barrier is not permitted; with a barrier and safety from temptation it is permitted with the Shafi'is. The Malikis said: a man's shaking hands with an unrelated woman is not permitted, even a senescent one (the spent old woman in whom men have no desire), by the generality of the evidences establishing prohibition, and because only the sight is permitted (al-Sawi's Hashiya on al-Sharh al-Saghir, 11/279). The Shafi'is, as mentioned, permit the handshake with a barrier and safety, and prohibit touching without a barrier even with safety, without distinction between young and old (Tuhfat al-Muhtaj, 8/498; Nihayat al-Muhtaj, 6/222; Al-Dibaj, 3/172).
The jurists do not disagree: the woman may not look at an unrelated man with desire, if she knows or deems likely that desire will occur, or doubts it, for looking with desire at one whose marriage or possession is not lawful is a kind of fornication, prohibited by all jurists.
They then differ on the look without desire: may she look at what is not an intimate part of him, that is, other than the navel and knees? Or may she only look at what he may look at of her, namely the face and hands? The Hanafis in the school, the Shafi'is on the sounder view and the Hanbalis in the school hold that she may look at the man at what a man may look at of a man, if she is safe from desire: the navel, what is above it and what is below the knees are not intimate parts of a man, and what is not an intimate part may be looked at by men and women, like clothes; and by the Prophet's (peace be upon him) words to Fatima bint Qays:
"Spend your waiting period in the house of Ibn Umm Maktum: he is a blind man; you may take off your garments and he will not see you."Reported by Muslim (3770)
Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) would screen me with his cloak while I watched the Abyssinians playing in the mosque" (reported by al-Bukhari, 988, and Muslim, 892). The day the Prophet (peace be upon him) finished the sermon of the festival, he went to the women, reminded them, with Bilal, and ordered them to give charity. And because if they were prevented from looking, veiling would become obligatory on men as on women, lest they look at them.
The man works at his craft and walks among people with a single waist-wrap: if looking at him were not permitted, matters would be straitened for people. The women attended prayer with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in the mosque: their looks necessarily fell upon the men; had looking not been permitted, they would not have been ordered to attend the mosque and place of prayer. The women were ordered to veil from men, and men were not ordered to veil (Al-Mabsut, 10/148; Al-Hidaya, 4/85; Al-Jawhara al-Nayyira, 6/360; Al-Inaya, 14/238; Mirqat al-Mafatih, 6/260; Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi, 8/15; Rawdat al-Talibin, 4/666-667; Al-Najm al-Wahhaj, 7/30; Mughni al-Muhtaj, 4/222-223; Tuhfat al-Muhtaj, 8/503; Nihayat al-Muhtaj, 6/225-226; Al-Mughni, 7/81; Al-Kafi, 3/9).
Ibn Qudama (may Allah have mercy on him) said: as for the hadith of Nabhan, Ahmad said: Nabhan reported two astonishing hadiths: this one and "If one of you has a contract-freed slave, let her veil from him"; as if pointing to the weakness of his hadith, since he reported only these two, contrary to the foundations. Ibn Abd al-Barr said: Nabhan is unknown, known only through al-Zuhri's narration of this hadith; Fatima's hadith is authentic: its proof is binding; it may be that Nabhan's hadith is specific to the Prophet's (peace be upon him) wives, as Ahmad and Abu Dawud said.
Al-Athram said: I asked Abu Abdillah: is Nabhan's hadith specific to the Prophet's (peace be upon him) wives, and Fatima's hadith general for all people? He said: yes; and were a conflict established, preferring the authentic hadiths over adopting a solitary hadith with a defective chain is more appropriate (Al-Mughni, 7/81; Al-Kafi, 3/9).
The Malikis per one opinion, the Shafi'is per an opinion preferred by al-Shirazi, al-Nawawi, Ibn Hibban and others, and the Hanbalis per an opinion hold that the woman may not look at the unrelated man except at what he may look at of her, namely the face and hands only, by "And tell the believing women to lower their gaze" (Surah an-Nur, 31): they must therefore be equal in what is incumbent upon them of lowering the gaze; each is ordered to lower his gaze at what is not lawful to look at; and each one's looking at the other is an incitement to infatuation.
Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "I was with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) with Maymuna when Ibn Umm Maktum arrived, after we had been ordered to veil. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: veil from him. We said: O Messenger of Allah, is he not blind, he does not see us nor know us? He said: Are you both blind? Do you not see him?" (weak hadith; Abu Dawud, 4112; al-Tirmidhi, 2778; Ahmad, 26579; Ibn Hibban in his Sahih, 5575; Abu Dawud said: this is specific to the Prophet's (peace be upon him) wives; see Fatima bint Qays's waiting period at Ibn Umm Maktum's).
Allah ordered the women to lower their gaze as He ordered the men; the woman being one of the two kinds of humans, looking at the other kind is prohibited to her by analogy with men; confirmed by the fact that the prohibited meaning of looking is the fear of temptation, which is greater in the woman: she is stronger in desire and weaker in reason, so the rush of temptation toward her is greater.
Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: the sound position, followed by the majority of scholars and most of the Companions, is that it is prohibited for the woman to look at the unrelated man as it is prohibited for him to look at her, by the two verses, temptation being shared; as fitna is feared through her, it is feared through him.
The Sunna confirms it by the hadith of Nabhan, freedman of Umm Salama: a hasan hadith reported by Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi and others; al-Tirmidhi said: hasan hadith, and the criticism of whoever criticized it without solid proof is not heeded. As for Fatima bint Qays's hadith with Ibn Umm Maktum, it does not contain permission to look at him: it indicates that there she is safe from others' looks, and she is commanded to lower her gaze; she can therefore take precautions without hardship, unlike her stay in Umm Sharik's house (Sharh Sahih Muslim, 10/96-97; Al-Bayan wa-l-Tahsil, 4/289; Al-Muhadhdhab, 2/34; Al-Hawi al-Kabir, 9/35; Al-Mughni, 7/81; Al-Kafi, 3/9).
The Malikis and the Hanafis per one opinion hold that the woman may see of the unrelated man what a man sees of his mahrams: the face and the front limbs that the mahram sees of his mahram, those parts not being intimate parts relative to him; touching, however, is not permitted: it is prohibited for the woman to touch the face and limbs of the unrelated man, to put her hand in his or on his face, as he may not put his hand in hers or on her face; unlike the mahram, where looking at the face and limbs is permitted, as is touching without pleasure (Mawahib al-Jalil, 2/191-192; Sharh Mukhtasar Khalil, 1/248; Al-Sharh al-Kabir with al-Dasuqi's Hashiya, 1/346).
Against the sahih, the Hanafis hold that the woman's look at the man is like the man's look at his mahrams, to the point that she may not look at his back or belly; the ruling of looking between different sexes being graver: note that a woman may not wash a man after his death; were she equal to the man in looking, washing him after death would be permitted to her (Al-Mabsut, 10/148; Al-Hidaya, 4/85; Al-Jawhara al-Nayyira, 6/360; Al-Inaya, 14/238).
The Shafi'is have a third, close opinion: she may look only at what appears in his craft, for there is no need for anything else, given the prevalence of their looking at men in the streets (Al-Bayan, 9/130; Rawdat al-Talibin, 4/666-667; Al-Najm al-Wahhaj, 7/30; Mughni al-Muhtaj, 4/223; Tuhfat al-Muhtaj, 8/503; Nihayat al-Muhtaj, 6/225-226).
The jurists agree: the man may not look, of his mahrams, that is, all those whose marriage is eternally prohibited to him by lineage, suckling or marital prohibition, at what is between the navel and the knees. They also agree that he may look at their face and hands. They then differ: may he look at what appears from the navel to the knees? Or only at what appears during service and activity? Or at the face and hands only?
The Malikis and the Shafi'is per one opinion hold that he may look of his mahrams only at what appears during service, such as the face and front limbs that the mahram sees of his mahram, those parts not being intimate parts relative to him; and touching without pleasure is permitted (Mawahib al-Jalil, 2/191-192; Sharh Mukhtasar Khalil, 1/248; Al-Sharh al-Kabir with al-Dasuqi's Hashiya, 1/346; Sharh Sahih Muslim, 4/31).
The Hanafis hold that he may look of his mahrams at the face, head, chest, shins and upper arms. The mahrams are those whose marriage is eternally prohibited to him by lineage or cause, such as suckling and marital affinity, whether the affinity is through marriage or through fornication, on the sounder view. He does not look at her back or belly, for they take the place of the intimate part; evidence: if he likens his wife to his mother's back, he commits zihar; had looking at it not been prohibited, the prohibition by simile would not have occurred. Note: if he says to his wife "you are to me like my mother's head", no prohibition occurs. The prohibition of looking at the back being established, the belly is more so: the belly is desired, not the back.
The basis is Allah's word:
"And let them not display their adornment except that which appears thereof. Let them draw their veils over their bosoms, and not display their adornment except to their husbands, or their fathers, or their husbands' fathers, or their sons, or their husbands' sons, or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons"
Surah an-Nur, 31
That is, the places of adornment, which are those mentioned. And His word: "No blame attaches to them regarding their fathers, nor their sons" (Surah an-Nur, 31). And the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her): "Permit him, for he is your uncle" (reported by al-Bukhari, 4796, and Muslim, 1445).
Included are the shin, ear, neck and foot, for all that is a place of adornment, unlike the back, belly and thigh which are not; and because they enter upon one another without permission or bashfulness; the woman in her house being usually in work clothes: were looking at these places prohibited, it would lead to hardship. Desire for the eternally forbidden being rare, she is rarely desired, unlike what lies behind, which is not usually uncovered.
There is no harm in touching what he may look at of her: the need is realized in travel and desire for the eternally forbidden is little, unlike the unrelated woman's face and hands, where touching is not permitted even if looking is, desire being complete; unless he fears desire in her or in himself: he then neither looks nor touches, by "The two eyes fornicate: their fornication is looking; the two hands fornicate: their fornication is striking"; the prohibition of fornication with the mahrams being graver, it is avoided. And there is no harm in seclusion with them or traveling with them (Al-Hidaya, 4/86; Al-Inaya, 14/244-245; Al-Jawhara al-Nayyira, 6/361-362).
The Shafi'is on the sahih hold that he may look, of his mahrams by lineage, suckling or affinity, at what is above the navel and below the knees, without desire; what is between the navel and the knees is prohibited by consensus, for mahram status is a cause prohibiting marriage, making them like men among men and women among women. Is looking at the navel and the knee permitted? Two opinions: yes, for they are not intimate parts relative to the mahram's look; and: they are here, as a precaution for the stronger view.
No difference in the mahram between the disbeliever and others, unless he belongs to a people who permit mahrams, like the Magians: then her look at him and his at her are not permitted. Seclusion and travel with the mahram are permitted (Al-Bayan, 9/129-130; Rawdat al-Talibin, 4/665-666; Sharh Sahih Muslim, 4/31; Al-Najm al-Wahhaj, 7/21-22; Mughni al-Muhtaj, 4/218; Tuhfat al-Muhtaj, 8/490; Nihayat al-Muhtaj, 6/218-219; Al-Dibaj, 3/170).
The Hanbalis hold that he may look of his mahrams at what usually appears, such as the neck, head, hands and feet, but not at what is usually covered, such as the chest and back. Al-Athram said: I asked Abu Abdillah (Ahmad) about a man looking at the hair of his father's wife or his son's wife; he said: this is in the Qur'an: "And let them not display their adornment", except to such and such. I said: does he look at his father's wife's shin and chest? He said: it does not please me. Then he said: I disapprove that one look, of his mother or sister, at anything of this kind, and at anything with desire. The qadi mentioned that the man's status with his mahrams is the man's status with men and the woman's with women.
Abu Bakr (al-Athram) said: Ahmad's disapproval of looking at his mother's shin and chest is by way of precaution, for it invites desire: that is, it is disapproved, not prohibited.
Sahl bint Suhayl said: "O Messenger of Allah, we used to see Salim as a son; he lived with me and Abu Hudhayfa in one house and would see me freely, in light clothing; then Allah revealed concerning them what you know: what do you see regarding him? The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: breastfeed him. She suckled him five sucklings, and he became like her son through suckling" (authentic hadith; Abu Dawud, 2061; Ahmad, 25691).
This proves he used to see of her what usually appears, since she said "he would see me freely", that is, in fine garments that do not cover her limbs. A verse of Imru al-Qays echoes this: "I came when she had spread her garments for sleep, by the screen, except the attire of the careless one"; from such a garment appear the limbs and the hair: he used to see her thus when she believed him a son; then the Prophet (peace be upon him) guided them to what would make permanent what they believed and practiced.
Al-Shafi'i reported in his Musnad, from Zaynab bint Abi Salama, that she was suckled by Asma, al-Zubayr's wife; she said: "I used to see him as a father; he would enter upon me while I was combing my hair, take some locks of my head and say: come to me." And because guarding against this is impossible, it was permitted like the face.
The jurists of the four schools agree: the man may not look at a man's intimate part, by what Muslim reported from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him):
"A man must not look at a man's intimate part, nor a woman at a woman's intimate part; a man must not lie with another man in one garment, nor a woman with another woman in one garment."Reported by Muslim (338)
Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: this hadith contains the prohibition of the man's looking at the man's intimate part and the woman's at the woman's, without disagreement; likewise the man's looking at the woman's intimate part and the woman's at the man's is prohibited by consensus; the mention of the man's looking at the man's intimate part alludes to looking at the woman's, prohibited a fortiori; this prohibition concerns other than spouses and owners (Sharh Sahih Muslim, 4/30).
The jurists differ on the definition of the intimate part: is it what is between the navel and the knees, or only the front and rear privates? The majority, namely the Hanafis, Malikis, Shafi'is and the Hanbalis in the school, hold that a man's intimate part is what is between the navel and the knees: he may look at the rest of a man's body, except that which is permitted only in necessity; there is no harm in looking at the place of circumcision in order to circumcise and treat after circumcision; likewise if there is at that place a wound or ulcer, or a need for treatment.
The evidence that what is between the navel and the knees is an intimate part: what Imam Ahmad reported in his Musnad from Jarhad:
"The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) saw him having uncovered his thigh and said: O Jarhad, cover your thigh, for the thigh is an intimate part."Authentic hadith, reported by Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi (2795), al-Bayhaqi in al-Kubra (2/228) and Ibn Hibban
And by the Prophet's (peace be upon him) words: "When one of you marries his slave to his slave girl or his hired worker, he must not look at anything of his intimate part: what is below the navel down to the knees is an intimate part" (hasan hadith; Abu Dawud, 4113-4114; al-Daraqutni, 1/230). An explicit text, the free man and the slave being equal in it.
The Hanbalis per one narration hold that the intimate part is the front and rear privates, by what Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: "On the day of Khaybar the Prophet (peace be upon him) drew away his waist-wrap from his thigh, until I saw the whiteness of the Prophet's (peace be upon him) thigh" (reported by al-Bukhari, 364, and Muslim, 1365); and by what Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) recounted: "The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was lying in my house with his thighs or shins uncovered; Abu Bakr asked permission and he granted it to him in that state and they talked; then Omar asked permission and he granted it to him likewise" (reported by Muslim, 2401). This proves the thigh is not an intimate part, not being a passage for impurity, unlike the shin. On this basis, a man may look at a man at everything other than the front and rear privates.
He may look at the navel per the majority: Hanafis, Malikis, Hanbalis and the sahih with the Shafi'is; per an opinion of the Shafi'is it is an intimate part. The evidence that it is not: Ibn Omar would expose his navel when donning the waist-wrap; Abu Hurayra said to al-Hasan (may Allah be pleased with them): "Show me the spot the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) used to kiss from you"; he exposed his navel and Abu Hurayra kissed it; and the common practice of people who, in the baths, expose their navel when donning the wrap without being denounced, proves it is not one.
They then differ over the knee. The Hanafis and the Shafi'is per one opinion hold that looking at the knee is not permitted, by "The knee is part of the intimate part" (reported by al-Daraqutni, 1/231, with Abu al-Junub in its chain, deemed weak by al-Daraqutni); and because the knee is a composite member of shin bone and thigh, hard to distinguish: the thigh is an intimate part, the shin is not; in case of ambiguity, precaution applies, unlike the navel, the name of a known spot without ambiguity; it is reported that Omar (may Allah be pleased with him) would expose his navel when donning the wrap: had it been one, exposing it from him would not have been tolerated.
The Malikis, the Shafi'is on the sahih and the Hanbalis hold that the knee is not part of the intimate part: the knee being a boundary, it is not part of it, like the navel (Al-Mabsut, 10/146; Bada'i' al-Sana'i', 5/123-124; Al-Muhit al-Burhani, 5/168; Al-Inaya, 14/236-237; Al-Jawhara al-Nayyira, 6/360; Sharh Mukhtasar Khalil, 1/246; Al-Sharh al-Kabir with al-Dasuqi's Hashiya, 1/344; Sharh Sahih Muslim, 4/131-132; Rawdat al-Talibin, 4/666; Al-Najm al-Wahhaj, 7/26; Mughni al-Muhtaj, 4/220; Al-Dibaj, 3/172; Al-Mughni, 7/80; Al-Kafi, 3/8; Al-Insaf, 1/453-454; Kashshaf al-Qina', 5/14; Manar al-Sabil, 2/539). The issue was addressed in the Book of Prayer of this work, in defining the man's intimate part.