Question: It was stated in The Social System, p. 41:
إِذَا زَوَّجَ أَحَدُكُمْ خَادِمَهُ عَبْدَهُ أَوْ أَجِيرَهُ فَلَا يَنْظُرْ إِلَى مَا دُونَ السُّرَّةِ وَفَوْقَ الرُّكْبَةِ فَإِنَّهُ عَوْرَةٌ
"If any of you marries off his servant to his slave or hired worker, let him not look at what is below the navel and above the knee, for it is ‘awrah." (Sunan Abi Dawud)
This Hadith was mentioned as evidence for the permissibility of a man looking at what is not ‘awrah of a woman and a woman looking at what is not ‘awrah of a man. What is the difference between looking at what is below the navel and above the knee of his servant before her marriage and after her marriage?
Answer: It appears that there is some confusion in understanding the question. The meaning of the Hadith is: If any of you marries off his khādim (servant), meaning his amah (female slave); for the term khādim can apply to both male and female. Before the master marries off his female slave to another, she is lawful for him (milk al-yamīn), and it is permissible for him to see her ‘awrah. However, once she is married, it becomes forbidden for her master (who married her off) to look at her ‘awrah. It remains permissible for him to look at what is not ‘awrah of the amah—meaning what is below the knee and above the navel—as long as she remains his slave and he has not manumitted her. He has only married her to his slave or his hired worker, so she remains a slave and has not become a free woman; otherwise, it would be forbidden for him to look at her entire body except for the face and hands.
Therefore, the text is:
إِذَا زَوَّجَ أَحَدُكُمْ خَادِمَهُ عَبْدَهُ أَوْ أَجِيرَهُ...
أَحَدُكُمْ is the fā’il, خَادِمَهُ is the first maf’ūl bihi for the verb زَوَّجَ, and عَبْدَهُ أَوْ أَجِيرَهُ is the second maf’ūl bihi for زَوَّجَ, and it is not an ‘atf bayān for خَادِمَهُ. The Hadith is evidence that the master’s permission to look at his entire slave (because she is milk al-yamīn) is revoked regarding what is ‘awrah for her after her marriage. This is because she is no longer lawful for him, so it becomes forbidden for him to look at her ‘awrah, i.e., what is below the navel and above the knee, because she is a slave whom he married off but did not manumit.
Thus, the manṭūq of the Hadith is valid as evidence for the prohibition of a man looking at a woman’s ‘awrah. The mafhūm of this manṭūq is that it is permissible for a man to look at what is not ‘awrah of a woman, whether she is a free woman or a slave. Men and women are equal in this regard; a man may look at what is not ‘awrah of a woman, and a woman may look at what is not ‘awrah of a man.
19 Jumada al-Ula 1425 AH 06/07/2004 CE