Ruling on Employing Muslim Female Servants, Whether with a Mahram or Without One
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The honorable Shaykh! I would like to ask about employing Muslim female servants. Some discussion has arisen between me and some young men who want to employ them, whether they have a mahram with them or not. May Allah reward you with good.
First: We must offer advice to our brothers in general, which is that they should not employ female or male servants except out of need or dire necessity. This is because if these servants come, they will impose expenses on the person that he has no need to spend and no dire necessity for. It is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he forbade the squandering of wealth.
Second: Some of them are not trustworthy with the trust we place in them.For this reason, I say: It is not permissible to bring in male or female servants except under certain conditions. First, regarding the woman: she must have a mahram (a relative one may not marry) with her. If she does not have a mahram with her, then it is not permissible to bring her in, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): (A woman should not travel except with a mahram) So if you bring her in and she does not have a mahram with her, this is a violation of the prohibition of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
Second: That he needs her. If he does not need her, and his intention is merely for entertainment and to relieve the burden, even if it is slight, from his household, there is doubt regarding the permissibility of that.
Third: That he does not fear fitnah (trial, discord or temptation). If he fears fitnah for himself or for any of his children, if he has children, it is not permissible for him to expose himself to that.
Fourth: That she adheres to what is obligatory upon her regarding hijab, such that she covers her face and does not expose it.And it is not valid to use the saying of Allah the Exalted as evidence: [al-Nur:31] It is not valid to use this as evidence that it is permissible for the servant to expose her face to the person she is with. Because the employer has not owned her; rather, she is a wage-earner with him. The wage-earner is like a stranger in the matter of hijab.
Fifth: That he does not be alone with her. If there is no one else in the house, it is not permissible for him to employ her at all. If there is someone in the house, but the household members leave the house and he remains alone with this servant, that is not permissible.By the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): “A man should not be alone with a woman except with a mahram.”
In the house as well, he should not be alone with her. And if this condition is met, that there is no seclusion, but regarding the other conditions: if she comes to him and serves him coffee, tea, lunch, and dinner while she is uncovered, is that permissible or not?The questioner: A dispute may arise between the two brothers, and the brother who wants a servant for his wife may say: I do not want to remain with a person who does not love me, does not appreciate me, and does not obey me. Then a dispute and discord may occur between them that may lead to severing family ties.The Shaykh: Severing family ties is not necessary. A person may leave the house, and the family ties remain.If one of them is not satisfied and says: And I do not accept that she be in my house when we do not need her. I do not accept that she be in the house while she is uncovered. So he may leave, and he is not considered the cause of severing family ties. He leaves and visits them from time to time.
As long as the cause of that is that the woman came without a mahram, and that she may violate the hijab and not cover herself, then he owes nothing.
First: We must offer advice to our brothers in general, which is that they should not employ female or male servants except out of need or dire necessity. This is because if these servants come, they will impose expenses on the person that he has no need to spend and no dire necessity for. It is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he forbade the squandering of wealth.
Second: Some of them are not trustworthy with the trust we place in them.For this reason, I say: It is not permissible to bring in male or female servants except under certain conditions. First, regarding the woman: she must have a mahram (a relative one may not marry) with her. If she does not have a mahram with her, then it is not permissible to bring her in, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): (A woman should not travel except with a mahram) So if you bring her in and she does not have a mahram with her, this is a violation of the prohibition of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
Second: That he needs her. If he does not need her, and his intention is merely for entertainment and to relieve the burden, even if it is slight, from his household, there is doubt regarding the permissibility of that.
Third: That he does not fear fitnah (trial, discord or temptation). If he fears fitnah for himself or for any of his children, if he has children, it is not permissible for him to expose himself to that.
Fourth: That she adheres to what is obligatory upon her regarding hijab, such that she covers her face and does not expose it.And it is not valid to use the saying of Allah the Exalted as evidence:
And tell the believing women to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except that which [necessarily] appears thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their headcovers over their chests and not expose their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, their brothers' sons, their sisters' sons, their women, that which their right hands possess
وَقُلْ لِلْمُؤْمِنَاتِ يَغْضُضْنَ مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِنَّ وَيَحْفَظْنَ فُرُوجَهُنَّ وَلا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَى جُيُوبِهِنَّ وَلا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا لِبُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ آبَائِهِنَّ أَوْ آبَاءِ بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَائِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَاءِ بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ إِخْوَانِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِي إِخْوَانِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِي أَخَوَاتِهِنَّ أَوْ نِسَائِهِنَّ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُنَّFifth: That he does not be alone with her. If there is no one else in the house, it is not permissible for him to employ her at all. If there is someone in the house, but the household members leave the house and he remains alone with this servant, that is not permissible.By the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): “A man should not be alone with a woman except with a mahram.”
In the house as well, he should not be alone with her. And if this condition is met, that there is no seclusion, but regarding the other conditions: if she comes to him and serves him coffee, tea, lunch, and dinner while she is uncovered, is that permissible or not?The questioner: A dispute may arise between the two brothers, and the brother who wants a servant for his wife may say: I do not want to remain with a person who does not love me, does not appreciate me, and does not obey me. Then a dispute and discord may occur between them that may lead to severing family ties.The Shaykh: Severing family ties is not necessary. A person may leave the house, and the family ties remain.If one of them is not satisfied and says: And I do not accept that she be in my house when we do not need her. I do not accept that she be in the house while she is uncovered. So he may leave, and he is not considered the cause of severing family ties. He leaves and visits them from time to time.
As long as the cause of that is that the woman came without a mahram, and that she may violate the hijab and not cover herself, then he owes nothing.