What is the ruling of teaching women without a screen?
Answered by our Shaykh, the ‘Allaamah, the Sincere Adviser, Abu ‘Abdirrahman Yahya bin ‘Ali Al-Hajoori – may Allaah preserve him –
Question:
What is the ruling of teaching women without a screen? And what is the ruling in taking them in a car without a mahram within the town? And what is the correct path in teaching them?
Answer:
Teaching the women and giving them muhaadhraat (Islamic lectures) without a screen is subjection to fitnah.
It is not permissible for anybody to teach foreign women without a screen, stopping in front of her and explaining things to her, it is not permissible to teach her (using this method).
And they say: “and who will teach them then?”
The sheikhs (Muqbil) speech amazed me he said:
“Guard yourself from behind a hijaab which no fitnah can occur with him because the Prophet ﷺ said:
«ألا وإن في الجسد مضغة إذا صلحت صلح الجسد كله، وإذا فسدت فسد الجسد كله ألا وهي القلب»
“Verily in the body there is a piece of flesh, if it is sound then the entire body will be sound, and if it becomes corrupt then the entire body will become corrupted, verily it is the heart.”
It is not permissible for a Muslim man to teach a woman without a partition, and the Prophet ﷺ admonished the women without a partition even though he said:
«أنا لكم بمنزلة الوالد»
“I am like a father figure to you”
[Reported by Abu Dawud]
And Bilal was with him collecting the sadaqah which the Prophet ﷺ incited upon, and if he had saw from Bilal, may Allaah be pleased with him, a look at one of the women he would have prohibited him from it, like the way he prohibited Al-fadl, may Allaah be pleased with him, when he looked at the woman from the tribe of khath’am.(1)
And there has come from the clear authentic evidences which clarify this hadeeth like hadeeth:
إياكم والدخول على النساء» قالوا: يا رسول الله أرأيت الحمو؟ قال: «الحمو الموت»
“Beware of entering upon the women. They said: Oh Messenger Allaah, what about Al-Hamū? He said: Al-Hamū is death”
And like the saying of Allaah:
“وَإِذَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُنَّ مَتَاعًا فَاسْأَلُوهُنَّ مِنْ وَرَاءِ حِجَابٍ ذَلِكُمْ أَطْهَرُ لِقُلُوبِكُمْ وَقُلُوبِهِنَّ”
And when you ask for anything you want, ask them from behind a screen, that is purer for your hearts and for their hearts. [Al-Ahzaab:53]
This is what is incumbent upon the Muslims to act upon, guarding their hearts and their women and their honour.
And likewise taking the women in a car without no mahram with them even if it isn’t on a journey it is still exhibition to fitnah, and whatever is exhibit to fitnah then it is waajib to stay away from except for a dire necessity. Alhamdulillah.
(1) Narrated by Ibn Abbas he said : Al-Fadl (his brother) was riding behind Allaah’s Messenger (ﷺ) and a woman from the tribe of Khath’am came and Al-Fadl started looking at her and she started looking at him. The Prophet (ﷺ) turned Al-Fadl’s face to the other side. The woman said, “O Allaah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! The obligation of Hajj enjoined by Allah on His devotees has become due on my father and he is old and weak, and he cannot sit firm on the Mount; may I perform Hajj on his behalf?” The Prophet (ﷺ) replied, “Yes, you may.” That happened during the Hajj-al-Wida (of the Prophet (ﷺ)) [Reported by Al-Bukhari]
Translated by : Abu Huthayfah Saamy Al-hindy