Continuing the discussion on mixed-gender university education.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Here, in the same question, but the problem is, for example, when we tell the young Muslim... the university is for the sake of mixing... for example, if we do not study, what do we do now? Do we remain, for example, in the streets, and how do we study... in the universities, for example, the Algerian ones have mixing.
The Shaykh : Remaining in the streets, what does that mean?
The questioner : They say, for example: We remain without studying, meaning!
The Shaykh : Yes, without studying; is it an individual obligation?
The questioner : No, it is not an individual obligation.
The Shaykh : Okay; some are in the universities, and some, as you say, are in the streets; so what? What is the value of this doubtful matter?
The questioner : They are the ones who say...
The Shaykh : My brother, understand it this way: if they are speaking in their capacity as Muslims, this is our response to them. Islamically, all knowledge is a collective obligation, not an individual obligation. So you, may Allah will it, you are concerned with Islam and you are learning the knowledge that is a collective obligation, even if there is mixing. But is this obligatory for everyone? If there is no mixing, is that good? If there is no mixing; people want to learn a profession to earn a living and seek lawful sustenance in it, they do not study in the university, and so on. Is there anything required of them regarding those who raise this doubtful matter? What do they say regarding some people? They do not study at all, they remain illiterate, for example, or semi-illiterate. They learn a profession to earn a living through lawful sustenance; do they say it is obligatory for every person to be a student in the university?
The questioner : They do not say that.
The Shaykh : Okay; so let those who say: "Then you are loitering in the streets and roads and not entering the university," let us say to them: No, we are practicing a profession and we are also helping the Muslim community with it; so this objection is not valid at all, neither religiously nor rationally.
The Shaykh : Remaining in the streets, what does that mean?
The questioner : They say, for example: We remain without studying, meaning!
The Shaykh : Yes, without studying; is it an individual obligation?
The questioner : No, it is not an individual obligation.
The Shaykh : Okay; some are in the universities, and some, as you say, are in the streets; so what? What is the value of this doubtful matter?
The questioner : They are the ones who say...
The Shaykh : My brother, understand it this way: if they are speaking in their capacity as Muslims, this is our response to them. Islamically, all knowledge is a collective obligation, not an individual obligation. So you, may Allah will it, you are concerned with Islam and you are learning the knowledge that is a collective obligation, even if there is mixing. But is this obligatory for everyone? If there is no mixing, is that good? If there is no mixing; people want to learn a profession to earn a living and seek lawful sustenance in it, they do not study in the university, and so on. Is there anything required of them regarding those who raise this doubtful matter? What do they say regarding some people? They do not study at all, they remain illiterate, for example, or semi-illiterate. They learn a profession to earn a living through lawful sustenance; do they say it is obligatory for every person to be a student in the university?
The questioner : They do not say that.
The Shaykh : Okay; so let those who say: "Then you are loitering in the streets and roads and not entering the university," let us say to them: No, we are practicing a profession and we are also helping the Muslim community with it; so this objection is not valid at all, neither religiously nor rationally.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.