Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalamu alaikum,
JazakAllah Khair to you and your colleages for the great service of spreading the teachings of Islam to the community. May Allah accept your work.
I totally agree with what you have mentioned in your reply to Re: Question No. 295-1862: Education and working women, however, if you can also throw some light on the cautions and limits to be observed by muslim women while working, specially when they may at places be required to work along with men.

Shukran and JazakAllah Khair

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Education and working of Women

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

May Allah Subhanah reward you with the best of this world and the Hereafter for your kind comments of encouragement for our humble efforts in the propagation of the Truth. We humbly hope, beg, and pray the Merciful Lord accepts our humble and weak efforts, forgives us our shortcomings, and saves you, us, and all the believers from the torment of the Hell Fire. Ameen.

Your Question: however, if you can also throw some light on the cautions and limits to be observed by muslim women while working, specially when they may at places be required to work along with men.
In the approved ‘way of life’ called Al-Islam, Allah Subhanah has laid all the financial responsibilities absolutely and unconditionally on the man; as a father, as a husband, as a son, etc. It is the man’s responsibility in Islam to provide for those under his guardianship.

In the same approved ‘way of life’ called Al-Islam, Allah Subhanah has laid equally, if not more important responsibilities on the woman according to her nature, which complement and complete the sacred institution of life; as a mother, as a wife, and as a daughter, etc.

The All Knowing, All Wise Lord has laid down the responsibilities of each gender according to the nature in which He Created them. If one tries to take over the responsibilities of the other, chances are one may compromise his own duties and responsibilities that are laid upon him. Only when each person recognizes his own nature in which he was created, and acts according to its nature fulfilling his due responsibilities and duties to the best of his ability; will there come a righteous and complete society in existence.

We see in today’s modern-educated-but ungodly world, how the nature and mentality of mankind is challenged when the ignorant people try to make the man and the woman ‘compete’ on the same turf, rather than complement and complete each other to create harmony and peace in society.

In the ungodly world today, where the accumulation of wealth, or position, or status, or fame have become the criteria of success; the ignorant and ungodly people have paid little attention or belittled the other very very important aspect of life called ‘family’ and ‘relations’ and ‘harmony’. These ignorant and ungodly people have tried to glamorize the role and responsibility of one gender, and on the other hand tried to demean and degrade the all important role of the other; thus resulting in an utter chaos and unfair competition within the sexes, rather than the mission of completion of the structure called life.

Although Islam does not discourage the believing woman from working for financial gains in the world, it lays great importance in the preservation of the sacred bond of family harmony. The one thing that Islam absolutely discourages is the free-mixing of the sexes, as that is one thing in the sight of the All Knowing, All Wise Lord that lays the root of the destruction of the sacred bond of family in society.

Thus the conditions that Islam lays on a believing working woman, who sincerely fears Allah and the Last Day, are:

She must strictly practice the concept of ‘hijaab’ when in the presence of non-mehram men.

She must not engage in casual or non-essential talk with the non-mehram members of the opposite sex, but always talk straight business talk.

She must never ever encourage or come to a situation where she meets a non-mehram man in private.

Except for the practice of ‘hijaab’, the other laws also strictly apply to the believing men, where they must not engage in casual or non-essential talk with a non-mehram woman, or ever try to meet a non-mehram woman in private.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 3118 Narrated by Umar ibn al-Khattab

The Prophet (saws) said, "Whenever a man is alone with a (non-mehram) woman, the Devil makes a third."

If the believing woman can adhere to the above principles, there is absolutely no harm in her seeking the bounties of Allah Subhanah in the world, if she wishes or needs to do so.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan