These are three times of privacy for you” (24:58). The Holy Prophet’s privacy was also to be respected: “O you who believe, enter not the houses of the Prophet unless permission is given to you for a meal, not waiting for its cooking being finished — but when you are invited, enter, and when you have taken food, disperse … And when you ask of them (the women) any goods, ask of them from behind a curtain (ḥijāb)” (33:53). The concluding words of the verse aim not only at privacy but also afford a rule of guidance for the maintenance of better relations between the husband and the wife. In fact, all the above rules relating to privacy aim at creating a better atmosphere of sexual morality.
In the struggle of life the intermingling of the two sexes cannot be avoided, and Islām allows such intermingling even for religious purposes, as in prayers and pilgrimage. On all such occasions, when intermingling is necessary, the Holy Qur’ān requires the women to appear in their simplest dress, or to wear an over-garment which should cover their ornaments, at the same time requiring both sexes to keep their looks cast down. Unnecessary mingling of the sexes is discouraged. Some ḥadīth prohibit a woman being alone in private with a man who is not her dhū maḥram (i.e., a near relative with whom marriage is prohibited) unless a dhū maḥram is present (Bu. 67:112); but when other people are also present, or one is exposed to public view, there is no harm in being alone with a woman (Bu. 67:113). The intermingling of the sexes in social functions generally cannot be traced in the early history of Islām, though there are examples in which a woman entertained the male guests of her husband (Bu. 67:78). This was a case of a marriage-feast (walīmah) in which the bride served the guests, but it cannot be said whether this was before the revelation of the 24th chapter or after it. In fact, much would depend, in these matters, on the social customs of the people, and no hard and fast rules can be laid down as to the limits to which the intermingling of the sexes may be allowed. The great object before Islām is to raise the moral status of society and to minimize the chances of illicit sexual relations growing up between the sexes, so that the