Is it permissible for a Muslim female doctor to work in the women’s section of a mixed hospital, treating only women and children?

The questioner : The question now is: Is it permissible for a Muslim female doctor to work in the women’s section of a mixed hospital so that she treats only women and children? Knowing that she will adhere to the Shari’ah dress code without the jilbab; because the nature of her work does not allow her to wear the jilbab during work, and no male patients visit her except for the cleaner, the janitor, or the pharmacist who work in the hospital, and in some cases only; where they sometimes ask her to work at night in the evening shift, and in this case, she is in the hospital all night, and men or patients or wounded people may enter her area, and she has no mahram with her; so how should this doctor act, knowing that her husband is able to provide for her within the limits of the Shari’ah without her working?

The Shaykh : If we remember that the original state for the Muslim woman is to remain in her home and not leave it except for a need, and we keep in mind what came in the question that this woman’s husband is able to support and provide for her, then we see that she should not be employed outside her home. And if she wishes to work as a doctor for women specifically, she works in her home, and does not leave it for this hospital mentioned in the course of the discussion, where she may expose herself to something small or large of ikhtilat (free mixing of men and women) mentioned in the question itself, and fall into a little or a lot of violations of the Shari’ah from which she was free.
As for what came in the question that if she is a nurse in that hospital, she is not able to wear the jilbab by virtue of her job, but she wears clothes that cover her 'awrah (the part of the body that must be covered); I consider this not to be an excuse, unless we imagine that the jilbab, in that it is a single garment covering the woman from her head to her feet, is a single garment, and we consider it being a single garment to be a matter of 'ibadah (worship); meaning we are obligated to adhere to its form; then in that case, not wearing this jilbab by virtue of the job she is exposed to, and replacing it with other clothes with which she covers her body, would be considered another violation. But the truth is that the jilbab, in terms of its type and shape, is not a matter of 'ibadah, it is not a form intended for its own sake, but rather it is a means to cover the woman’s 'awrah. So if a woman, whether this one or another, adheres to her home and does not leave it except for a need, it is permissible for her to wear whatever clothes she wishes within the limits of the conditions I mentioned in my book "The Muslim Woman’s Hijab," even if these clothes are not a jilbab linguistically; meaning: not a single piece. Let it be two pieces, let it be three pieces, but the important thing is that these clothes, which are the alternative to the jilbab, perform the same function as the jilbab. If that is the case, then there is no harm for this doctor, nor for anyone else, in not wearing the jilbab but wearing clothes that fully perform the function of the jilbab.
And the summary is: The woman’s leaving her home is contrary to the original state, and her entering hospitals where there are men and women, so this ikhtilat (free mixing of men and women) is not permissible in Islam. Yes, I see that if there were a hospital exclusively for women, meaning the manager responsible for the hospital is a woman, the servants are women, the patients are women, and so on; then in my belief, such a hospital must exist in Islamic countries, and at that time, women must handle the affairs of this hospital, whether they are doctors, managers, servants, or the like. But as long as it came in the question that this hospital has ikhtilat (free mixing of men and women) and there is entry of what I do not know what I called in the question, the cleaner and other than the cleaner - also - may come sometimes; then we advise - in this situation - that the Muslim believing woman should fear her Lord, and adhere to her home, and leave the matter to those who do not care about their religion as much as she cares about her religion.
This is what I have.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.


The questioner : An employee in one of the government offices was required to work in a room where everyone working in it is women, and he is the only one among them, and sometimes he is alone in the same room with a woman, and sometimes with more than one woman, and he may not find a way out of this dilemma, and he knows the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) which says: , so how should this male employee act in such a situation, which he is required to work in ...?