Some women have started going out to the market or with drivers without a mahram, relying on your fatwa. Is that correct?
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The questioner : Shaykh, regarding the fatwa on khalwah (seclusion), some women have started going out to the market or with drivers without a mahram, relying on your fatwa on this matter. Is that correct, O Shaykh? I ask you to clarify what the fatwa means.
The Shaykh : Khalwah (seclusion) in the view of the scholars is when a man is alone with a woman who is not lawful for him in a place with locked doors, such that no one knows what is happening there. However, if a woman enters a shop to buy a need, and this shop has open doors, so that anyone passing by the street, let alone anyone who wants to enter this shop, can see what might be there, this is not khalwah (seclusion) by the consensus of the scholars. Therefore, calling this woman’s riding in a car that she is in khalwah (seclusion) with the driver is a fallacy that is not hidden from the people of knowledge. All that can be said, and this is what I have said on this occasion more than once, is: there is no harm in a woman riding in a car in the middle of the town, if this town is not one where it is the custom of some drivers to abduct women by the way of their riding in cars. If this condition is met, then first, there is no khalwah (seclusion) as we mentioned, and there is no fear, so there is no harm in such riding in such a car and in such a town.
As for if the town is a town of fitnah (trial) and a town of assault on the honor of women, then it is not permissible for her to ride except with a mahram, or that she rides with a group of women, where it is more likely that the driver cannot assault them or do with them what is not permissible by the Shari'ah. This is what we say and we testify to Allah by it. And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
The Shaykh : Khalwah (seclusion) in the view of the scholars is when a man is alone with a woman who is not lawful for him in a place with locked doors, such that no one knows what is happening there. However, if a woman enters a shop to buy a need, and this shop has open doors, so that anyone passing by the street, let alone anyone who wants to enter this shop, can see what might be there, this is not khalwah (seclusion) by the consensus of the scholars. Therefore, calling this woman’s riding in a car that she is in khalwah (seclusion) with the driver is a fallacy that is not hidden from the people of knowledge. All that can be said, and this is what I have said on this occasion more than once, is: there is no harm in a woman riding in a car in the middle of the town, if this town is not one where it is the custom of some drivers to abduct women by the way of their riding in cars. If this condition is met, then first, there is no khalwah (seclusion) as we mentioned, and there is no fear, so there is no harm in such riding in such a car and in such a town.
As for if the town is a town of fitnah (trial) and a town of assault on the honor of women, then it is not permissible for her to ride except with a mahram, or that she rides with a group of women, where it is more likely that the driver cannot assault them or do with them what is not permissible by the Shari'ah. This is what we say and we testify to Allah by it. And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.