Al-Ahzaab (The Clans)

55. “There is no sin for them (not to have veil) with their fathers, nor their sons, nor their brothers, nor their brothers’ sons, nor the sons of their sisters, nor their own women, nor of what their right hands possess; and be in awe of Allah! Verily Allah is a witness of all things.”

There is no hardship or difficulty in Islam. The first grade relatives who permanently ply in the house and among the household are on confidential terms with each other.

Sine there has been stated an absolute ordinance in the previous verse about the wives of the Prophet (S) and the absoluteness of this ordinance brings this misconception into being that their very near relatives are also obliged to perform it, and they must communicate with them from behind the curtain, the above holy verse was revealed and explained how they may behave.

It says:

“There is no sin for them (not to have veil) with their fathers, nor their sons, nor their brothers, nor their brothers’ sons, nor the sons of their sisters, nor their own women, nor of what their right hands possess…”

In other words, their very near relatives, who are limited in these six groups, are as exceptions. If someone says that there are some other persons who are also among the very near relatives, such as paternal uncles and maternal uncles, but they are not mentioned in these six groups, it must be answered as follows:

In view of the fact that the Qur’an uses eloquence and elegance in their best form, and one of the principles of eloquence is that there should not be any extra word in the speech, so here, it has not mentioned the paternal uncles and maternal ones, because by mentioning the children of brother and the children of sister the allowance of paternal uncles and maternal uncles is made clear, because it is always mutual.

In the same way that a brother’s son is a near relative to the person, the one is also near relative to one’s brother’s child; (and we know that such a woman is counted a paternal aunt. And Also as the sister’s child is a near relative to the one, the one is also near relative to the sister’s child, (and we know that such a woman is a maternal aunt).

When the paternal aunt and the maternal aunt are near relatives (mahram) to her brother’s son and sister’s son, the paternal uncle and the maternal uncle are also near relatives (mahram) unto brother’s daughter and sister’s daughter, (because there is no difference between paternal uncle and aunt, and also maternal uncle and aunt) and this is one of the narrow things of the Qur’an.

By the way, the husband’s father and husband’s son are also counted among the near relatives of the woman, as they are also mentioned in Surah An-Nur, No. 24, verse 31 among the near relatives, too.

Also, the lack of mentioning the foster brothers and foster sisters and the like in the verse is for the sake that they are counted as brother and sister like other very near relatives and there is no need to be mentioned independently.

At the end, the verse changes the tone of speech from absent addressee to present addressee, when it addresses the wives of the Prophet (S) and says:

“…and be in awe of Allah! Verily Allah is a witness of all things.”

There is nothing hidden and concealed for Allah, because a curtain and a cover and the like are nothing but some means as barriers against committing sins, and the main root is piety that if it is absent even these means will not be beneficial.

This point also seems necessary to be mentioned here that the Arabic term /nisa’ihinna/ (their own women) refers to the Muslim women entirely, because, as it was mentioned in the commentary of Surah An-Nur, it is not suitable for Muslim women that they appear before non-Muslim women since they may explain the things for their husbands.