Thus does Allah make clear the revelations for you...

Thus does Allah make clear the revelations for you; and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.” The Qur’anic word /tawwafun/ is originally derived from the word /tawaf/, meaning walking about or around something, and since it is used in the form of exaggeration, it means frequency of this matter. With regard to the Qur’anic phrase /ba‘dukum ‘ala ba‘din/ (some of you ...

upon others) that has come after it, the concept of the sentence is that you are allowed to do each other favour and to go and to come in other than these three times.

As Fazil Mighdad says in Kanz-ul-‘Irfan, this sentence indicates that there is no need for taking permission in other times, because if they want to come and go frequently and they have to take permission, every time it will become a difficult job[^2].[^3] Sura An-Nur - Verse 59 وإِذَا بَلَغَ الاَطْفَالُ مِنكُمُ الْحُلُمَ فَلْيَسْتَأْذِنُوا كَمَا اسْتَأْذَنَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ كَذَلِكَ يُبَيّـِنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ ءَايَاتِه وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ 59.

“And when the children among you reach puberty then let them ask permission even as those before them used to ask it. Thus does Allah make clear His revelations for you. Allah is All-Knower, All-Wise.” Wet dream is a boundary of reaching the religious puberty. The Arabic word /hulum/ and the word /’ihtilam/ means to see a wet dream when one is sleeping, and it is one of the signs of puberty.

Of course, the signs of puberty for girls and boys are various and they are mentioned in detail in the treatises of authorities of imitation. In this holy verse the ordinance of those who have reached puberty is mentioned. It says: “And when the children among you reach puberty then let them ask permission even as those before them used to ask it. …” The Arabic word /hulum/ means ‘intellect’ and implies puberty which is usually accompanied with an intellectual and mental mutation.

It is sometimes said that the word /hulum/ means ‘dream’ and ‘dreaming’, and since, after puberty, the youth see some scenes in dream that cause them ejecting semen, this word has been used to mean puberty ironically.

Anyway, it is understood from this verse that the ordinance for those who have reached puberty is different from those who have not reached this status, because immature children are obligated to take permission only in three times, according to the previous verse, since their life is so mixed with their own parent’s that if they want to take permission every time, it will cause them difficulty.

✦ ✦ ✦