Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo la tadkhuloo buyoota annabiyyi illa an yu'thana lakum (surah Ahzab: 53)

Tafseer Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi

(33:53) Believers, enter not the houses of the Prophet without his permission, *95nor wait for a meal to be prepared; instead enter when you are invited to eat, *96 and when you have had the meal, disperse. Do not linger in idle talk. *97 That is hurtful to the Prophet but he does not express it out of shyness; but Allah is not ashamed of speaking out the Truth. And if you were to ask the wives of the Prophet for something, ask from behind a curtain. That is more apt for the cleanness of your hearts and theirs. *98 It is not lawful for you to cause hurt to Allah's Messenger, *99 nor to ever marry his wives after him. *100 Surely that would be an enormous sin in Allah's sight.

Yaaa aiyuhal lazeena aamanoo laa tadkhuloo bu yootan Nabiyyi ilaaa ai yu`zana lakum ilaa ta`aamin ghaira naazireena inaahu wa laakin izaa du`eetum fadkhuloo fa izaa ta`imtum fantashiroo wa laa mustaaniseena lihadees; inna zaalikum kaana yu`zin Nabiyya fa yastahyee minkum wallaahu laa yastahyee minal haqq; wa izaa sa altumoohunna mataa`an fas`aloohunna minw waraaa`i hijaab; zaalikum atharu liquloobikum wa quloobihinn; wa maa kaana lakum an tu`zoo Rasoolal laahi wa laaa an tankihooo azwaajahoo mim ba`diheee abadaa; inna zaalikum kaana `indal laahi `azeema

*95) This is an introduction to the general Command that was given in Surah An-Nur: 27 about a year later. In the ancient times the Arabs would enter one another's house unceremoniously. If a person had to see another person he did not drink it was necessary to call at the door or take permission for entry, but would enter the house and ask the womenfolk and children whether the master was at home or not, This custom of ignorance was the cause of many evils and would often give rise to some serious evils. Therefore, in the beginning a rule was made in respect of the houses of the Holy Prophet that no person, whether a close friend or a distant relative, could enter them without permission. Then in Surah An-Nur a general command was given to enforce this rule for the houses of aII the Muslims.
*96) This is the second command in this connection. An uncivilized practice prevalent among the Arabs was that the visitors would call on a friend or acquaintance right at the time of the meals, or would come and prolong their stay till the meals time approached. This would often cause the master of the house great embarrassment. He could neither be so discourteous as to tell the visitors to leave because it was his meals time, nor could feed so many unexpected guests together. For it is not always possible for a person to arrange meals inunediately for as many visitors as happened to call on him at a time. Allah disapproved of this practice and commanded that the visitors should go for meals to a house only when invited. This Command did not in particular apply to the Holy Prophet's house only but the rules were in the beginning enforced in that model household so that they become general rules of etiquette in the houses of the other Muslims as well.
*97) This was to reform yet another foolish practice. The guests at a feast, after they had finished eating, would sit down to endless gossip and discussions much to the inconvenience of the people of the house. They would often embarrass the Holy Prophet also by this practice, but he would forbear and forget. At last on the day of the marriage feast of Hadrat Zainab the embarrassment thus caused crossed all limits. According to the Holy Prophet's special attendant, Hadrat Anas bin Malik, the feast was held at night. Most of the people left after taking food but a couple or two of them got engaged jn gossip. Disconcerted the Holy Prophet rose and went round to his wives. When he returned he found the gentlemen still sitting. He turned back and sat in Hadrat 'A'ishah's apartment. When a good deal of the night had passed he came to know that the gentlemen had left. Then he returned and went to the apartment of Hadrat Zainab. After this it became inevitable that Allah Himself should warn. the people of these evil practices. According to Hadrat Anas these verses were sent down on this occasion. (Muslim, Nasa'i Ibn Jarir).
*98) This is the verse which is called "the verse of the veil". Bukhari has related on the authority of Hadrat Anas that before the coming down of this verse, Hadrat 'Umar had made a suggestion several times to the Holy Prophet to the effect: "O Messenger of Allah, alI sorts of the people, good and bad, come to visit you. Would that you commanded your wives to observe hijab. According to another tradition, once Hadrat 'Umar said to the holy wives, "If what I say concerning you is accepted, my eyes should never see you. " But since the Holy Prophet was not independent in making law, he awaited Divine Revelation. At last, this Command came down that except for the mahram males (as being stated in v. SS below) no other man should enter the Holy Prophet's houses, and whoever had to ask some thing from the ladies, should ask for it from behind a curtain. After this Command curtains were hung at the doors of the apartments of the wives, and since the Holy Prophet's house was a model for the Muslims to follow, they too hung curtains at their doors. The last sentence of the verse itself points out that whoever desire that the hearts of the men and women should remain pure, should adopt this way.
Now whosoever has been blessed with understanding by Allah can himself see that the Book which forbids the men and women to talk to each other face to face and commands them to speak from behind a curtain because `this is a better way for the purity of your as well as their hearts," could not possibly permit that the men and women should freely meet in mixed gatherings, educational and democratic institutions and offices, because it did not affect the purity of the hearts in any way. For him who does not want to follow the Qur'an, the best way would be that he should disregard its Commands and should frankly say that he has no desire to follow it. But this would be the height of meanness that he should violate the clear Commandments of the Qur'an and then stubbornly say that he is following the 'spirit" of Islam which he has extracted. After all, what is that spirit of Islam which these people extract from sources outside the Qur'an and the sunnah?
*99) The allusion is to the false allegations that were being made in those days against the Holy Prophet, and some weak-minded Muslims also were joining the disbelievers and the hypocrites in doing this.
*100) This is the explanation of what has been said in verse 6:"...the Prophet's wives are mothers of the believers."