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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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What is the ruling on a brother remaining alone in the house with his brother's wife?

Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Is it permissible for my brother to stay with my wife in the house alone, while I and the rest of the family go to pray in the Sacred Mosque?

The Shaykh : It is not permissible; this is forbidden, forbidden, forbidden, for a man's wife to remain alone in the house with his brother. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Beware of entering upon women.إياكم والدخول على النساء
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1171Sahih (Darussalam)
And "iyya" in the Arabic language, what does it mean? It means warning; it means warning.
Beware of entering upon women.إياكم والدخول على النساء
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1171Sahih (Darussalam)
They said:
Messenger of God, tell me about the relatives of a woman’s husbandيا رسول الله أرأيت الحمو
Mishkat al-Masabih 3102
And "al-hamw" are the relatives of the husband, meaning they enter the house of their relative. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
The relatives of the husband are deathالحمو الموت
The relatives of the husband are death.الحمو الموت.
Say, "O my brother." Is "al-hamw is death" a warning or a confirmation? Clarify the point. Yes, it is a warning, and it is not a confirmation, because every time someone dies, the relatives must enter the house of their relative.
May Allah bless you. Well, this is undoubtedly a warning, meaning one flees from the relatives as one flees from death. Everyone flees from death and does not want death.
So he said, "The relatives are death."فقال الحمو هو الموت
The point is that when the relatives enter the house of their relative, it is not objected to, and they say, "This man entered the house of his cousin, or the house of his brother, or the like," and harm occurs. So I say it is forbidden for a man to leave his wife with his brother in the house, whether he went to pray in the mosque, or went to a lesson at school, or otherwise. It is forbidden. But, my brothers, let us solve the problem: if a man has work in the state, and he has a wife, and he has a brother, and his brother has no work, what does he do when he goes to his work in the state? Of course. Please.
Yes, stop completely, meaning he takes his brother with him; he takes his brother with him. Well, this is a solution. He says to his brother, "Walk, you and I." I said to him, "Well, I have no work." He said, "Sit at the door, at the door of the workplace, until I finish and I will come with you." This is a solution. But is this possible or not? This is not possible, and if it is possible, it is difficult. Well, another solution? He takes the wife to her family. If she goes to her family, will she not return?
What do we do? What do you say about this solution? What do you say about this solution? This solution is easier than the first; undoubtedly, he takes her to her family, and this will be a joy for her; she stays with her mother and sisters, for example, until her husband comes. This solution is easier than the first solution, but even so, there is something to it. Well, a third solution: he puts her in a room and locks the door on her until he returns. Does he put drink and food for her? And does the house have windows for air?
In any case, this is a third solution. Opinions are by consultation. This is a third solution, but I find this difficult, meaning that he imprisons his wife in a room; there is difficulty in that. Well. She has no mahram. She has no mahram. Her father is at work and her brothers are at school. Be patient, my brother. Well, is there not a second solution? He marries a second woman. He marries a second woman, and at that time the seclusion is removed. Yes, this is a solution, and I think this is the best of the solutions. Well, here. He takes from whom? The woman? No, no, no, this is not correct.
Well, there is another solution besides what I mentioned regarding marrying another woman, which is that he places his brother in a part of the house, in what is called among us the annex. Some people now make an annex on the side of the house with all its amenities, from the bathroom and everything. He places his brother in this annex, as if he is in an apartment in a building, and he places the woman in the house and locks the door between the house and this annex. This is an easy solution; this is an easy solution, and it is sufficient, if Allah wills. What?
And this is also a solution: that he looks for a wife for his brother. This is also a good solution, but these things may not be feasible; he may be poor, or his brother may not want to marry. In any case, we now have seven solutions, and the closest to me are two things. The first thing is that he marries a second woman, by which the seclusion is removed. The second is that he puts his brother in the annex, away from the main part of the house, and puts a door between the annex and the house and locks the door. This is easier than imprisoning her in a room and locking the door on her.
Source دروس وفتاوى المسجد الحرام لعام 1417هـ - 12 — binothaimeen.net (43:55)

The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.

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