The unbounded hospitality of those good old days when the worthy patriarchs lived with open doors, and good cheer; when the three virtues which made a man distinguished, were bravery, eloquence, and hospitality, or in the hyperbole of the times, a sharp sword, a sweet tongue, and forty tables; in such an era of benevolence it became necessary to separate the more precious and defenseless portion of the family from the vulgar gaze.
The seclusion of women, then, has ever been one of the greatest social peculiarities of the East, and does not date its origin from modern times, nor even from the foundation of the Moslem faith. In some forms, it existed in the times of the ancient Jews; for, when Rebecca lifted up her eyes and saw Isaac, who had gone out to meditate in the field at even tide, she said unto the servant, "What man is this, who walketh in the field to meet us?" and the servant said, "It is my master, therefore she took a veil and covered herself."
"The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice."
The same institution existed among the Arabs from time immemorial, so that Mohammed was not the originator of this separation of women from general society, but rather the sustainer of an old and established usage, which the condition of the community in his times, rendered imperative.
"Speak unto the true believers, that they restrain their eyes, and keep themselves from immodest actions. This will be more pure for them, for God is well acquainted with that which they do; and speak unto the believing women, that they restrain their eyes, and preserve their modesty, and discover not their ornaments (personal charms), except what necessarily appeareth thereof; and let them throw their veils over their bosoms, and not show their ornaments, unless to their husbands or their fathers, or their husband's fathers, or their sons, or their husband's sons, or their brother's sons, or unto such as attend them and have no need of women, or unto children who distinguish not the nakedness of men."
Supposing then society were on a different basis, according to these tenets, the women would be perpetually veiled, and the men ever wandering with averted eyes. In order to remedy these evils, and facilitate their seclusion, the houses are all divided into two sets of apartments, the Selamluk, or men's apartment, and the Harem, or the sanctuary of the women, where no men are allowed to enter, except those specified by the Prophet.