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women and islamic law 315List of maȧrim (taboo-)relativesList of people to whom a woman may reveal herupper private parts (hidden zÊna) but must notreveal her lower private parts ( farj)1. Son 1. Son2. Father 2. Father3. Brother 3. Brother4. Brother of the Father5. Brother of the Mother6. Son of the Brother 4. Son of the Brother7. Son of the Sister 5. Son of the Sister8. Foster Son9. Foster Brother10. Father-in-Law 6. Father of the ba#l husband11. Husband of the Mother(from a previous marriage)12. Husband of the Daughter(Son-in-Law)13. Husband of the Sister(Brother-in-Law)14. Son of the Husband7. Son of the ba#l husband(from another marriage)8. Added to the seven listed above are alsothe children and grandchildren who areall covered by the term nis§"ihinna: thedescendants to whatever degreedownwards.We stress that we do not suggest that a woman is free to show thoseparts of her body that are not her lower private parts to all thosepersons (mentioned in the right-hand column), but if it unintentionallyhappens it should not be judged as Èar§m. 61Seventh Line:… or the [temporary partner] whom their right hands possess [m§malakat aim§nuhunna]Historically, the phrase ‘what their right hands possess’ was used toindicate the slaves of the household. This immediately raises the61MS uses here Èar§m in the sense of a transgression against something that is‘off-limit’ or ‘sacrosanct’, not in the sense of an absolute taboo, i.e., something that iscategorically ‘forbidden’ (as he defined Èar§m in ch. 2).