Surah An-Noor (24) — Ayah 27

27-1 In the previous verses, the rulings regarding adultery and slander and their punishments were mentioned. Now Allah Almighty is describing the etiquettes of entering homes so that there is no unnecessary mixing between men and women, which usually leads to adultery or slander. The meaning of اَسْتِیْنَاس is to ascertain, that is, until you know who is inside and that person has granted you permission to enter, do not enter. In the verse, seeking permission to enter is mentioned first and greeting (salam) is mentioned afterwards. However, from the hadith it is known that the Prophet ﷺ would first greet (say salam) and then seek permission to enter, and this was also his ﷺ practice that he ﷺ would seek permission three times; if there was no response, he ﷺ would return. And it was also his ﷺ blessed habit that when seeking permission, he ﷺ would stand to the right or left side of the door, so that there would not be a sudden face-to-face encounter, which could lead to exposure (see Sahih Bukhari). Similarly, the Prophet ﷺ strictly forbade peeking inside while standing at the door, to the extent that if someone poked out the eye of the one peeking, he ﷺ said there would be no sin upon him (al-Bukhari). The Prophet ﷺ also disliked that when the owner of the house asked from inside, "Who is it?" the response would be "It's me, it's me." This means that one should introduce oneself by name (Sahih Bukhari).

27-2 That is, act upon it. The meaning is that after seeking permission and greeting, entering the house is better for both of you than entering suddenly.