Continuation of the chapter: "The chapter on a man kissing a young girl."

The Shaykh : Now we read to you the second report, which contains a benefit that every Muslim man and woman must understand and act upon as much as they are able.
This report is narrated by Imam al-Bukhari in his book, *Al-Adab al-Mufrad*, with his authentic chain of narration from al-Hasan, who is al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan al-Basri, the noble and famous Tabi'i. Listen to what this distinguished man says, and you will know how Muslims and Muslim women live today, some with others, far removed from Islamic etiquette.
Al-Hasan al-Basri says: "If you can avoid looking at the hair of any of your relatives, except if it is the hair of your wife or young children" "If you can avoid looking at the hair of any of your relatives" meaning, do not do it and do not look "except if it is the hair of your wife or young children".
This has two meanings:
The first meaning: The minimum obligation for a man is that he does not look at the hair of a woman who is not his mahram, except if she is from his household. The word "household" can be interpreted in two ways: "household" meaning the wife, and this is, of course, lawful.
It can also be interpreted in a broader sense, meaning the mahram relatives.
Do you understand?
The questioner: No.

The Shaykh : If we interpret the verse here to mean the wife, then al-Hasan al-Basri has restricted us from looking at a woman's hair, even if she is one of our mahram relatives. This is all in the context of blocking the means to sin, not because it is forbidden. A man has certain matters and exceptions regarding his mahram relatives, as Allah the Exalted said: and so on. But the only thing the verse conveys is permissibility; that is, it is permissible for a man to look at the hair of his sister, for example, whether she is related by blood or by breastfeeding.
But al-Hasan al-Basri, interpreting "household" to mean the wife, says: "If you can avoid looking at a woman's hair in general, then do so, except your wife" because you live with her.
So, one of two things is taken from this report.
One thing is mandatory, and it is a general ruling that must be observed between men and women: that an adult man does not look at a woman's hair as long as she is a non-mahram to him.
As for if she is one of his mahram relatives, it is permissible for him to look at her hair, but it is better that she does not appear before him except covered with the prayer head covering, even if she is a mahram. In this etiquette is a call to attention to the fact that we women today live in our homes in a non-Islamic manner, under the pretext that a person is free in his home, that he can sit, undress, and take his freedom, especially in the days of summer. The answer is no; it is mandatory to observe the limits, in which the majority of Muslims and Muslim women have been lax.
A woman in her home must live within the limits as if there is a mahram present in the house with her always and forever, like a brother, for example. It is not permissible for her to wear short clothes on the pretext that there is no stranger, because this brother is not allowed to see anything of his sister, and likewise, all the mahram relatives of this woman are not allowed to see anything of the woman except the places of her adornment.
And the places of her adornment are taken from the previous verse: "And they shall not display their adornment except to their husbands, or their fathers, or their husbands' fathers, or their sons," and so on. And at the end of it, it says: So our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, made women with women like a woman with one of her mahram relatives, like her brother. What does a woman display before her mahram and before women in general, of her own sex? What this verse explicitly states is nothing but their adornment only, or, or, and so on.