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:

Salam; My question is, whether can we organise or attend an Islamic lecture(vaaz) whose speaker is a female scholar or a well versed female that she will address a group of females in a separate room on a mic. and the males group would get it from speakers etc, locally in our town/city etc.?
What if any group is already doing the same, what would be the rulling on them? 

(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:

Attend female Lecture

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 none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

There is enough authentic evidence in recorded history that after the death of the Prophet of Allah (saws), Hadrat Aisha (r.a.) was approached by the noble companions of the Prophet (saws) and she would teach them some tenets of the deen she learnt and understood from the Messenger of Allah (saws). Thus technically, there is no prohibition in Shariah if one were to learn the deen from a scholar who happens to be a female, provided all the restrictions and conditions of ‘hijaab’ are scrupulously honored.

Some scholars have voiced their opinion regarding men learning of the deen from female scholars, and they argue that the case of the ‘mother of the faithful’ Hadrat Aisha (r.a.) is absolutely distinct because first and foremost she was amongst those women whom the Lord had declared the ‘mother of the believers’, and secondly because of her proximity to the Noble Prophet (saws) as his wife, the issues regarding the personal life of the Prophet (saws) which she could clarify and answer, none amongst the men scholars of the times would be able to address.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 33 Surah Ahzaab verse 53:

53 O ye who Believe! Enter not the Prophet's houses until leave is given you for a meal (and then) not (so early as) to wait for its preparation: but when ye are invited, enter; and when ye have taken your meal disperse without seeking familiar talk. Such (behavior) annoys the Prophet: He is ashamed to dismiss you but Allah is not ashamed (to tell you) the truth. And when ye ask (his ladies) for anything ye want ask them from before a screen: that makes for greater purity for your hearts and for theirs. Nor is it right for you that ye should annoy Allah's Apostle or that ye should marry his widows after him at any time. Truly such a thing is in Allah's sight an enormity.

The Lord All-Knowing All-Wise Commands some of the most pious women (the chaste wives of the Prophet (saws)) and some of the most pious men (the noble companions of the Prophet (saws)) who ever graced this planet earth, that if perchance they need to talk to each other, they should do so from behind a veil or a screen, for that would make for greater purity for their hearts….such is the level of the segregation of non-mehram sexes which is inscribed in the deen of Islam!

In our own humble opinion, it would be best in this day and age when there are so many good and eminent scholars available to teach the deen….men should fear Allah, and strive to learn the deen from men scholars and teachers…..that would indeed make for greater purity of their hearts. But if perchance there is an age or time or place when there are no men scholars available in the Ummah, there is indeed allowance in the history of Islam for men to learn their deen from female scholars, provided of-course that the conditions of ‘hijaab’ are scrupulously honored. And Allah Alone Knows Best.

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

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan