Ruling on Employing Disbelieving Female Servants
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The questioner : Your Eminence! What is the ruling on bringing in disbelieving female servants into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?
The Shaykh : We have answered this before.
The questioner: We said: Do not bring in any servant except a Muslim woman, and she must be accompanied by her mahram (a relative one may not marry), except in cases of dire necessity. If you cannot find a Muslim woman and you are compelled to have a servant, then bring her with her mahram. Because a disbelieving servant is, in reality, first of all, how can a person keep in his home someone who is an enemy to him and to Allah? How can he be satisfied with this?Second: It has been reported to me that some of the servants, when advised, would say to the young boys in the morning: Say, "The Messiah is the son of Allah,"Say: "O Messiah! O our Lord, the Messiah," and the like. She came with this based on her own understanding; because it is her religion. It is feared that women like these may misguide the family.
The Shaykh : Also, if she is with you in the house and the mu'adhdhin (the one who calls to prayer) calls the adhan (the call to prayer), and the people stand up to pray, while she does not pray, be assured that the importance of prayer will diminish in the hearts of the young ones,And they say: thinking that prayer is optional: whoever wants to prays, and whoever does not want to, does not pray.
The Shaykh : Therefore, there are many dangers in bringing in disbelieving servants.
The Shaykh : We have answered this before.
The questioner: We said: Do not bring in any servant except a Muslim woman, and she must be accompanied by her mahram (a relative one may not marry), except in cases of dire necessity. If you cannot find a Muslim woman and you are compelled to have a servant, then bring her with her mahram. Because a disbelieving servant is, in reality, first of all, how can a person keep in his home someone who is an enemy to him and to Allah? How can he be satisfied with this?Second: It has been reported to me that some of the servants, when advised, would say to the young boys in the morning: Say, "The Messiah is the son of Allah,"Say: "O Messiah! O our Lord, the Messiah," and the like. She came with this based on her own understanding; because it is her religion. It is feared that women like these may misguide the family.
The Shaykh : Also, if she is with you in the house and the mu'adhdhin (the one who calls to prayer) calls the adhan (the call to prayer), and the people stand up to pray, while she does not pray, be assured that the importance of prayer will diminish in the hearts of the young ones,And they say: thinking that prayer is optional: whoever wants to prays, and whoever does not want to, does not pray.
The Shaykh : Therefore, there are many dangers in bringing in disbelieving servants.