Jami' at-Tirmidhi
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2709
حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ أَبِي عُمَرَ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، عَنْ سَهْلِ بْنِ سَعْدٍ السَّاعِدِيِّ، أَنَّ رَجُلاً، اطَّلَعَ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم مِنْ جُحْرٍ فِي حُجْرَةِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَمَعَ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم مِدْرَاةٌ يَحُكُّ بِهَا رَأْسَهُ فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم " لَوْ عَلِمْتُ أَنَّكَ تَنْظُرُ لَطَعَنْتُ بِهَا فِي عَيْنِكَ إِنَّمَا جُعِلَ الاِسْتِئْذَانُ مِنْ أَجْلِ الْبَصَرِ " . وَفِي الْبَابِ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ . قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Sahl ibn Sa‘d al-Sa‘idi reported: A man peered through a hole into one of the Prophet’s chambers while the Prophet had a midrah with which he was scratching his head. The Prophet said: ‘Had I known you were looking, I would have thrust it into your eye. Permission to enter has been prescribed only to protect people’s gaze.’
There is also a report on this topic from Abu Hurayrah. Abu ‘Isa said: This is a hasan sahih hadith.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
Midrah is an implement for scratching or combing the head; the Arabic says the Prophet was scratching his head with it. The report’s rationale is expressed as safeguarding sight/privacy.