The statement of one who claims that the Shari'ah forbade seclusion (khalwah) but not free mixing (ikhtilat)

Question:
This questioner says: What is your view, may Allah grant you success, regarding the statement of one of the newspaper writers who said that the Shari'ah came to forbid seclusion (khalwah) but did not come to forbid free mixing (ikhtilat)?

Answer:
As for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordering the women in the prayer area for the prayer for rain and the prayer area for the festival to be behind the men in a separate place, and the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he finished his sermon to the men, would go and deliver a sermon to the women—if the women had been mixed with the men, he (peace and blessings be upon him) would have needed to move from his sermon to the men to his sermon to the women in the mosque. As for the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) order for the women to be behind the men, and his guidance to the men regarding the ladder from the prayer, telling them not to rush until the women had left, is this not a prevention of free mixing (ikhtilat) out of fear of it? As for the order for a single woman to be behind the rows and not in the row, is this not a prevention of free mixing (ikhtilat)? This is in worship. So what about free mixing (ikhtilat) in the markets? What about free mixing (ikhtilat) in the hospitals? In the offices? The matter is more dangerous and more severe. Yes.

The presenter:
May Allah reward you,