days. People unhesitatingly glance into other’s homes. In fact, if the door is closed they leap up to look inside, they peep through holes in the wall, through windows, they even remove the curtains to look and are totally inconsiderate about the fact that peeking into the homes of others is prohibited by Sharī’aĥ.
Question: If we knock on the door but receive no reply, can we still not peek into the house?
Answer: No, you cannot look inside. Sayyidunā Abū Żar
Ghifārī
رَضِىَ اللهُ تَعَالٰی عَـنْهُ reported that our Beloved Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ تَعَالٰى عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم said, ‘One who removes the curtain and looks inside a house and
sees the private matter of the family prior to receiving permission, has done something
which was not lawful for him. If someone pokes him in the eye when he sees,
then I will not shame him (the person who poked in the eye). If anyone passes
an uncovered open door and looks inside (unintentionally) then he is not a
sinner, this is the family’s fault.’ (Sunan-ut-Tirmiżī,
vol. 4, pp. 324, Ḥadīš 2716)
The famous commentator, Ḥakīm-ul-Ummat, Muftī Aḥmad Yār Khān عَـلَيْهِ رَحْـمَةُ الْـمَنَّان comment on the words of the Ḥadīš ‘I will not shame him’: That is, I will not punish and embarrass the person who poked him in the eye because the one who looked is at fault.
(Remember) According to Ḥanafī scholars, the purpose of this statement is to warn and caution, because the person who poked in the eye will be afflicted with certain punishment for this. Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ said, ‘اَلۡعَيۡنَ بِالۡعَيۡنِ’. An eye can be poked as a penalty for a poked eye but not as a punishment for looking into someone’s home.
(Mirāt, vol. 5, pp. 257)