Is there any obstacle to a woman wearing the hijab, adhering to the required Islamic dress, and continuing her studies in a co-educational university?

The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. And may prayers and peace be upon the noblest of the prophets and messengers, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. As for what follows: The Salafi magazine al-Istijabah has arranged a meeting with the honorableThe Shaykh : Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani, and with the help of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), we begin with the first question: HonorableThe Shaykh : In all Sudanese universities, there is mixing between male and female students, andThe student : with the expansion of the Salafi call, praise be to Allah, and its entry into universities and higher institutes, it has expanded. With the expansion of the call, female students of the call to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) entered, but the problem they face is the mixing in universities. Is there any obstacle to a woman wearing the hijab, dressing in the required Islamic attire, and then continuing her studies in this state?

The Shaykh : I do not see that as permissible, because you know that Islam, in the perfection of its legislation, places barriers and obstacles between Muslims and forbidden things. This is what is called by the scholars: "The chapter of blocking the means to harm." There are many, and very many, well-known proofs for this chapter among the people of knowledge. For example, what came in the Noble Qur'an regarding the prohibition of insulting Muslims by polytheists, out of fear that these polytheists would return and insult Allah without knowledge, even though insulting polytheists is a permissible matter in Islam. Similarly, we mention two other examples from the Sunnah: His saying (peace be upon him): . They said: O Messenger of Allah, how does a man insult his father? He said: ; meaning, a man insults another man regarding his father, so that man defends himself and in turn insults the father of the first insulter. So he prohibited this path to block the means that his father not be insulted because of him. And the second example from the Sunnah, and the third of the examples: His saying (peace and blessings be upon him), which is established in the Sahih: . This is the narration in the Sahih, and in a narration in "Musnad Ahmad" containing Abdullah ibn Lahi'ah, who apparently narrated it by meaning, he said: . So the Wise Lawgiver, through the tongue of His noble Prophet, forbade these glances, these listenings, those touches, and those steps, out of fear that they would lead to the dire consequence, which is unlawful sexual intercourse. These things are forbidden from the chapter of blocking the means to harm. And Shawqi Mistri did well when he quoted from this hadith a famous poem:
"A glance, then a smile, then a greeting *** then speech, then an appointment, then a meeting"
This is from the hadiths or textual statements from the Book of Allah or from the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). Then we find in the practical Sunnah something of a surrounding barrier that the Messenger (peace be upon him) placed between Muslims and falling into what Allah has forbidden them. Imam al-Bukhari narrated in his "Sahih" from the hadith of Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) used to remain in his place for a short time after he finished the prayer, and we thought . Here is the speech of the hadith scholars; al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar, as I recall, preferred that this statement is not part of the completion of the hadith of Umm Salama, but rather it was inserted into her hadith and is from the saying of one of the narrators, and it is likely al-Zuhri who said: "So we thought—meaning: we presumed—that this was from him (peace and blessings be upon him) so that the women would rise and leave the mosque before the men; so that the men and women would not mix when leaving the mosque." This is an action from him (peace be upon him) to realize and apply what preceded from his statements (peace be upon him), and also in the Qur'anic verse.
And of this nature is also the regulation of straightening the rows in the mosque, such that making the women's row behind is better than the front row, contrary to the men's rows. All of this is to keep the woman away from closeness with the men in the men's rows in the most sacred place on the face of the earth. And the Messenger (peace be upon him) was asked, as you know, about the best of places and the worst of places? So he answered that: . And if the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) adopts this means and this barrier and this separation between men and women in the most sacred place, what do we say about other places, especially if these places are not run by those in charge implementing the rulings of Allah and His Shari'ah, like these universities you are asking about? And if what happens in the best of places on earth, which is the mosque in general, as you know, and the best of places on all earth after Makkah, which is the Mosque of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), if what happens there, what do we say about what may happen in other places, among which are the existing universities today?! It came in "Sunan al-Tirmidhi" in the interpretation of His saying (Exalted is He): that this verse was revealed because a man used to intentionally pray in the last rows of the men, and a woman was praying—I do not say she intended it—she was praying in the first row, so that man, when he prostrated, would look like this under his armpit at that woman . So he would intentionally pray in the last row to be able to cast his glance at that woman. So He (Exalted is He) revealed this verse as discipline and warning: in the first rows, . All of this is legislation from the Messenger (peace be upon him) in speech and action, and a barrier to prevent Satan from intervening between women and men. If you see that these means we mentioned were legislated by Allah through the tongue of His Prophet and through His action so that women and men do not mix in the best of places, as we mentioned, then it becomes clear to us at that time that mixing is not permissible in these universities, even if it is an Islamic university, meaning one that studies Islam as a book and Sunnah. So in this state, teaching must be separate; the men have their rows and their rooms, and the women likewise have their rows and their rooms.
For this reason, I advise the Muslim girls andThe student : women who responded, praise be to Allah, to your call to avoid studying in these universities, because the evil that may befall them will be more than the good, if they find good in studying in these universities.

The questioner : You have spoken well, O Shaykh, but... if Allah wills.