The opinion on Shaykh Ibn Baz’s fatwa forbidding the hiring of non-Muslim domestic workers for homes.

The questioner : In Ibn Baz’s fatwa, even regarding domestic workers from the People of the Book, he said it is not permissible to house them in our homes, meaning he said it is forbidden to house them in the homes. What is your opinion, Shaykh, on this matter?

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.

Another questioner: Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh : Welcome, how are you?

The questioner : May Allah keep you safe.

The Shaykh : What appears to me—and Allah knows best—is that what he notedThe Shaykh : in that prohibition is only due to his knowledge that the Muslim women, the housewives who hire these foreigners, do not fulfill the obligation of covering themselves. However, if the prohibition is a general one, as I have heard that it is also not permissible to employ or use them, even by men; then we do not see anything that justifies this prohibition. Islamic history is full of the fact that Jews and Christians lived among the Muslims, especially those who were enslaved slaves. And in the authentic hadith, it was said by him (peace and blessings be upon him): , and in the hadith there is a reference to the captives from among the disbelievers who were led to the lands of Islam in chains and shackles, then distributed according to the opinion of the Muslim ruler to the warriors, who were the ones who captured these captives. Thus, these captives naturally became servants in the homes of the Muslims. So this employment was a great blessing for these captives, as they were dragged to these Islamic lands against their wills, and they came to know Islam closely and from near, so Islam was revealed to them in its bright, white face, contrary to the many lies they were taught in their lands, whether about the religion of Islam or the Prophet of Islam. So their knowledge of the truth of Islam was the cause of their guidance, the guidance whose end for them is entering Paradise. For this reason, we do not find a barrier preventing a Muslim from employing a disbeliever if it is within the limits of the Shari'ah. And the greatest argument for this is the continuation of the Muslims’ practice of it. Also, the opposite is established; that is, the Muslims in their early era used to hire themselves out to those who were not Muslim. It is established, for example, in "Musnad al-Imam Ahmad" and others that 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) hired himself out to a Jew for one date per bucket. So if this was permissible, even though it contains something or a type of the disbeliever’s dominance over the Muslim, then the opposite, which is the Muslim’s dominance over the disbeliever, is all the more permissible. This is what I have as an answer to that question.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.