The ruling on the obligation of a barrier between the teacher and the students

The questioner : It has come to our attention that in one of the Islamic institutes, some men entered to teach women. When these brothers were advised, they justified it by saying that it was out of necessity and that there were no women available to teach this subject. So, is this necessity a genuine cause for the permissibility of this matter, or...

The Shaykh : We do not know; it may be genuine, and there may be no male teacher to teach this subject other than a man. But in this case, the man must keep his distance from looking at the women and place a barrier between himself and them so that the women do not become attached to his personality. This is because Satan flows through the son of Adam like blood. I mean, even if we assume that all the female students are wearing the Islamic hijab, and by the Islamic hijab we mean what covers the face, so they cover their faces, and he is in front of them, they will inevitably see him. But the best thing is to place a barrier between them and the man so that no fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) occurs. But the problem now, as I mentioned to you a moment ago, is that there are men and women, equal in knowledge, so the women were chosen to teach the men and the men to teach the women. This reversal, may Allah protect us from it,

The questioner : May Allah bless you. Is this barrier obligatory or...?

The Shaykh : I see that it is obligatory because we are in a time of fitnah (trial, discord or temptation). Otherwise, it is well known that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) came to the women and promised them a day when he would come to them. He came to them and preached to them without placing a barrier. But it appears that none of the Companions were with him, and the Messenger is not like others. As for our time, a barrier is necessary. Even if we assume that the teacher is as innocent as the wolf was of Yusuf’s blood, the women are to be feared for causing fitnah (trial, discord or temptation). Now, some girls develop a passion for some teachers until the love of this teacher takes over the love of Allah and His Messenger, from prayer to salam. The first thing Satan does is say, “This is love for the sake of Allah,” and then it becomes love alongside Allah. So what about if it is a man?