Surah An-Noor (24) — Ayah 28

28. And if you find no one in them, then do not enter until you are given permission [35]. And if you are told, "Go back," then go back [36]. That is purer for you, and Allah is fully aware of what you do.

[35] That is, when none of the household members are present in the house, one should never enter someone else's house at such a time. Because in this way, various kinds of doubts and suspicions can arise about each other, and the matter can escalate from mere accusations to a dispute. The only exception to this is if the owner of the house himself seats a visitor in his room or elsewhere, saying, "Wait here for a little while, I will be back soon." And there can be several forms of such permission as well.

[36] The limit for seeking such permission is three times. It is possible that the owner of the house may not hear the request for permission the first or second time, or he may be deeply engaged in some work and unable to come to the door quickly. Therefore, the command has been given to seek permission three times. And this permission should be sought at short intervals, and if after seeking permission three times there is still no response from inside, then one should not insist further for a meeting or entry. As is made clear by the following hadith:

If Permission is Not Granted Even the Third Time, One Should Return:

Abu Sa'id Khudriؓ says that I was sitting in a gathering of the Ansar when Abu Musa Ash'ari came. It seemed as if he was running and anxious. He said: "I went to Umarؓ's place and sought permission three times, but I was not granted permission, so I returned." Then Umarؓ asked me: "Why did you not wait?" (Why did you not wait?) Abu Musa Ash'ari said: "I sought permission three times and was not granted permission, so I returned. And the Prophetﷺ said that if any of you seeks permission three times and is not granted permission, then he should return." Umarؓ said: "By Allah! You will have to bring a witness for this hadith." Now tell me, has anyone among you heard this hadith from the Prophetﷺ?" Ubayy bin Ka'b said: "By Allah! The person who is the liar among us will bear witness for you"—and among all of us, I was the liar. So I went with Abu Musa Ash'ari and informed Umarؓ that the Prophetﷺ had indeed said so. Imam Bukhari says that Umarؓ's intention was merely to verify the hadith, not that he considered the report incorrect. [بخاری۔ کتاب الا ستیعان۔ باب التسلیم والاستیذان ثلثاً]

And if the owner of the house, upon knocking at the door, asks, "Who is it?" then one should introduce oneself or state one's name in such clear words that the owner of the house knows who is seeking permission to enter, as is made clear in the following hadith.

1.
The Method of Seeking Permission:

Jabirؓ says that I came to the Prophetﷺ to discuss the debt that was upon my father. I knocked at the door. The Prophetﷺ asked (from inside), "Who is it?" I said, "It is me." The Prophetﷺ said: "I am 'me' too." As if the Prophetﷺ disliked saying "It is me" instead of stating one's name. [بخاري۔ حواله ايضاً]

2. And the method of seeking permission is that one should not stand directly in front of the outer door, but rather stand to the right or left side, so that when the owner of the house, his servant, or any other household member opens the door, the visitor's gaze does not reach inside before permission is granted. In this regard, the Prophetﷺ said: "When the gaze goes inside, then the very purpose of seeking permission is lost." [ابوداؤد۔ کتاب الادب۔ باب فی الاستیذان]

3. The Prophetﷺ also said: "It is because of prying eyes that the command of seeking permission has been given." [مسلم۔ کتاب الآداب ۔ باب تحریم النظر فی بیت غیرہ]

4. And prying or peeking into someone's house is a very grave sin. The Prophetﷺ said: "If someone peeks into your house and you throw a pebble and blind his eye, there is no sin upon you." [بخاری۔ کتاب الایات باب من اطلع فی بیت قوم فتؤاعینه]

That is, if someone blinds the eye of such an ill-intentioned person, there will be no retaliation or compensation for it.