Muhammad said: "Al-isti'nas" (asking permission/seeking intimacy) in the language means: to inquire or seek to know; you say: "I sought to know (ista'nastu) but I saw no one," meaning: I inquired and sought to recognize. Al-Nabigha said:

(As if my saddle, while the day has passed by us... at Dhu al-Jalil, is upon one that is wary and alone)

He means: a wild bull that caught sight of something and feared it, so he is startled.

Yahya reported from Ibn Lahi'ah, from Abu al-Zubayr, who said: "Jabir ibn 'Abd Allah was asked: 'Should a man ask permission to enter upon his mother, even if she is elderly, or upon his sister?' He replied: 'Yes.'"

Yahya reported from Ibn Lahi'ah, from Yazid ibn Abi Habib; that 'Ali said: "A man should ask permission to enter upon every woman except his own wife."

Surat al-Nur from (Verse 28 to Verse 29).