/ Beware of entering upon women." A man from the Ansār said: O Messenger of Allah, what about the Hamw (brother-in-law)? He said: "The Hamw is death

Beware of entering upon women." A man from the Ansār said: O Messenger of Allah, what about the Hamw (brother-in-law)? He said: "The Hamw is death

‘Uqbah ibn ‘Āmir (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Beware of entering upon women." A man from the Ansār said: O Messenger of Allah, what about the Hamw (brother-in-law)? He said: "The Hamw is death."
Narrated by Bukhari & Muslim

Explanation

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) warned against mixing with foreign women and said: Guard yourselves against entering upon women and against women entering upon you. A man from the Ansār said: What about the husband's relatives, like the husband's brother, his brother's son, his uncle, his cousin, his sister's son, and others whom she could get married to if she were not married? Thereupon, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: Beware of him as you beware of death. This is because meeting the husband's male relatives in seclusion leads to temptation and destruction in one's religion. In fact, the husband's relatives, other than his fathers and sons, are worthier of the prohibition than the foreign man since being in seclusion with the husband's relative is more recurrent than with others, and evil is more expected from him than from others, and temptation is more likely to occur given his ability to reach the woman and stay in seclusion with her without being blamed for that, and given that his presence is inevitable and it is not possible to keep him away from her as this is commonly taken lightly, so a man can easily meet his brother's wife in seclusion. This is similar to death in terms of hideousness and the evil consequences, unlike the foreign man who is usually avoided.

Hadeeth benefits

  1. It is prohibited to enter upon foreign women and stay in seclusion with them to block the means to immorality.
  2. This generally refers to foreign men, including the husband's brother and his relatives, who are not from the woman's Mahrams (unmarriageable male relatives); however, such prohibited entry is that which leads to seclusion.
  3. Avoiding suspicious situations for fear of falling into evil.
  4. An-Nawawi said: Experts in the Arabic language have agreed that "Ahmā’" refers to the relatives of the woman's husband, like his father, uncle, brother, nephew, cousin, etc. On the other hand, "Akhtān" refers to the relatives of the man's wife, whereas "As-hār" (in-laws) refers to both.
  5. He likened the (Hamw) to death; commenting on this, Ibn Hajar said: The Arabs usually describe what is detestable as death, and here the point of resemblance is that the "Hamw" (brother-in-law) means the death of religion if adultery is committed, and it means the death of the one who stayed in seclusion with the woman in case adultery is committed and stoning becomes obligatory, and it means the woman's destruction for being separated from her husband if he divorces her out of jealousy.