What is the ruling on a woman riding alone with a non-mahram driver if she is on the street and the car is open, allowing people to see what is inside?
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The questioner : One question, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Your Eminence, what is the ruling on a woman riding alone with a non-mahram driver if she is on the street and the car is open, allowing people to see what is inside? What is your opinion on this, given that many people say: It is not seclusion as long as she is in front of people?
The Shaykh : Yes. Our view is that it is forbidden and not permissible. The harm present in seclusion is present in this situation. And his statement that it is not seclusion because people are watching her.
The answer to this is from two angles:
First: The car is moving, not everyone sees it, and people are not looking into every car that is moving.
Second: Even if it is visible, the whispering, touching, and laughter of this woman with whom he is alone are not known to people. So the prohibited thing in the seclusion that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade is present in this. In fact, this may be more severe. Perhaps he will try to seduce her and say: If you do not do it, I will go to the desert and force you to do what I want and you do not want. So the matter is very serious. And incidents have occurred that I do not like to mention here because of their obscenity regarding those who rode alone with the driver.
So beware, beware of this! The door of unlawful sexual intercourse has been surrounded by the Lawgiver with a strong fence, so much so that He forbade looking at a woman, seclusion with her, and traveling without a mahram. This is because souls call to it, the weak souls in faith. Therefore, He made a fence to protect a person from committing it. Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Your Eminence, what is the ruling on a woman riding alone with a non-mahram driver if she is on the street and the car is open, allowing people to see what is inside? What is your opinion on this, given that many people say: It is not seclusion as long as she is in front of people?
The Shaykh : Yes. Our view is that it is forbidden and not permissible. The harm present in seclusion is present in this situation. And his statement that it is not seclusion because people are watching her.
The answer to this is from two angles:
First: The car is moving, not everyone sees it, and people are not looking into every car that is moving.
Second: Even if it is visible, the whispering, touching, and laughter of this woman with whom he is alone are not known to people. So the prohibited thing in the seclusion that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade is present in this. In fact, this may be more severe. Perhaps he will try to seduce her and say: If you do not do it, I will go to the desert and force you to do what I want and you do not want. So the matter is very serious. And incidents have occurred that I do not like to mention here because of their obscenity regarding those who rode alone with the driver.
So beware, beware of this! The door of unlawful sexual intercourse has been surrounded by the Lawgiver with a strong fence, so much so that He forbade looking at a woman, seclusion with her, and traveling without a mahram. This is because souls call to it, the weak souls in faith. Therefore, He made a fence to protect a person from committing it. Yes.