For Those Who Think: Surah al-Nur , 24...On Salam, Veils, Decency and Privacy..

The surah goes on to outline some rules of social etiquette which Muslims should observe, not only in their daily interactions with members of the the external community but also within their own homes as well. One of these area of etiquette concerns the protocol which should be observed by Muslims when entering the homes of other people for, as places of rest and privacy, their sanctity should be respected. The surah teaches that among the first thing one must do upon entering someone's house is to announce one's presence, greet those inside it and obtain permission to enter and that these formalities should be observed when entering the house from the outside but also when moving from room to room within it.

With a similar rationality for preserving decency and discouraging corruption and promiscuity in society, the surah also urges modesty and a strict sexual morality in the relationship between men and women. Although these rules and regulations were not new to Islam [ as earlier religions had also advocated and promoted them ], the difference was that Islam set them out more succinctly and elaborated on them with more detail. Islam also provided rulings on various aspects of dress, personal hygiene, and the wearing of jewelry as well as guidelines on the use of such thing as perfume and cosmetics, and the subtle features that make a person adorable or attractive. In contrast to these high standards of decency and morality, some cultures, which profess to be religious, stand for the extreme opposite, exporting permissive sexual morality, vulgarity, nudity, pornography, indulgence and perversion.

Indeed, one has only to look at the role played by the mass media tod ay to understand how it is being used as a powerful tool to promote indecency and encourage loose standards of morality such that it strongly threatens to destroy not only the very foundations of the family but also society as well.

Islam looks at marriage as a religious obligation, and directs members of society to seek lawful and decent relationships, avoid the breakdown of the family and, more generally, to protect society from social disintegration. It is comforting and reassuring to know that the Qur'an gives such care and attention to these basic aspects of human life, subjects which occupy more than a third of the surah, especially verses 27 -34 , and verses 58 - 61 :

O ye who believe! Enter not houses other than your own without first announcing your presence and invoking peace upon the folk thereof. That is better for you, that ye may be heedful. (27) And if ye find no-one therein, still enter not until permission hath been given. And if it be said unto you: Go back, then go back, for it is purer for you. Allah knoweth what ye do. (28)(It is) no sin for you to enter uninhabited houses wherein is comfort for you. Allah knoweth what ye proclaim and what ye hide. (29) Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and be modest. That is purer for them. Lo! Allah is aware of what they do. (30) And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent, and to draw their veils over their bosoms, and not to reveal their adornment save to their own husbands or fathers or husbands' fathers, or their sons or their husbands' sons, or their brothers or their brothers' sons or sisters' sons, or their women, or their slaves, or male attendants who lack vigour, or children who know naught of women's nakedness. And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment. And turn unto Allah together, O believers, in order that ye may succeed. (31) And marry such of you as are solitary and the pious of your slaves and maid-servants. If they be poor, Allah will enrich them of His bounty. Allah is of ample means, Aware. (32) And let those who cannot find a match keep chaste till Allah give them independence by His grace. And such of your slaves as seek a writing (of emancipation), write it for them if ye are aware of aught of good in them, and bestow upon them of the wealth of Allah which He hath bestowed upon you. Force not your slave-girls to whoredom that ye may seek enjoyment of the life of the world, if they would preserve their chastity. And if one force them, then (unto them), after their compulsion, lo! Allah will be Forgiving, Merciful. (33) And verily We have sent down for you revelations that make plain, and the example of those who passed away before you. An admonition unto those who ward off (evil). (34)

O ye who believe! Let your slaves, and those of you who have not come to puberty, ask leave of you at three times (before they come into your presence): Before the prayer of dawn, and when ye lay aside your raiment for the heat of noon, and after the prayer of night. Three times of privacy for you. It is no sin for them or for you at other times, when some of you go round attendant upon others (if they come into your presence without leave). Thus Allah maketh clear the revelations for you. Allah is Knower, Wise. (58) And when the children among you come to puberty then let them ask leave even as those before them used to ask it. Thus Allah maketh clear His revelations for you. Allah is Knower, Wise. (59) As for women past child-bearing, who have no hope of marriage, it is no sin for them if they discard their (outer) clothing in such a way as not to show adornment. But to refrain is better for them. Allah is Hearer, Knower. (60) No blame is there upon the blind nor any blame upon the lame nor any blame upon the sick nor on yourselves if ye eat from your houses, or the houses of your fathers, or the houses of your mothers, or the houses of your brothers, or the houses of your sisters, or the houses of your fathers' brothers, or the houses of your fathers' sisters, or the houses of your mothers' brothers, or the houses of your mothers' sisters, or (from that) whereof ye hold the keys, or (from the house) of a friend. No sin shall it be for you whether ye eat together or apart. But when ye enter houses, salute one another with a greeting from Allah, blessed and sweet. Thus Allah maketh clear His revelations for you, that haply ye may understand. (61)