What is the ruling on a girl studying in a co-educational university?
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The questioner : A man has a daughter... in a university in Damascus, and he sent his daughter to the university in Damascus... So now some people are saying to him: You are sinful for this action; what is your opinion?
The Shaykh : Clarify the situation for me, because it might be...
The questioner : He allows his daughter to go to the university in Damascus, to study English or Shari'ah, or something like that.
The Shaykh : Is the university co-educational?
The questioner : Yes, it is well known to you.
The Shaykh : No, by Allah, I do not know! [Everyone laughs] I left Damascus more than ten years ago. The important thing is that what I hear is that it is co-educational; in that case, the statement is correct. And recently, we were in a gathering and stayed up until eleven o'clock, and a question like this came up, so we answered with what you heard: As long as the study involves, first, mixing between young men and young women, this is not permissible. We did a long study on this, and I do not see myself as energetic enough to repeat what I said recently, but the best speech is what is brief and instructive; so you are asking, and this is the answer:
Those who told you this, you are responsible. So it is not befitting, whether the example concerns you or someone else, the important thing is that it is not permissible to put your daughter in any place in any country of the Muslim lands as long as the education there is co-educational. This is from one aspect. From another aspect, this girl might be forced to travel alone as well, and I do not imagine that her guardian would go with her to deliver her to the university, and then when the summer vacation comes, he goes to take her with him. People today are lenient in allowing women to travel without a mahram on the pretext that air travel is only a few hours, and they do not remember some of the harms that befall women who travel without a mahram. I hope Professor al-Banna will benefit us and remind us of the story he once told us; the story of that Egyptian man whose wife traveled from Egypt to Riyadh, and then some employees who read the telegram played with her. Do you remember it?
The questioner : This is well known...
The Shaykh : Good; but I want the brothers to hear the story from the source I heard it from; Jeddah or Riyadh?
The questioner: Riyadh.
The Shaykh : Riyadh, yes, I heard it from him in Riyadh, but you have apparently forgotten. So you are telling about me from yourself! [Everyone laughs] Yes, he told usThe Shaykh : al-Banna used to tell us that a telegram came to some employees in Riyadh saying that so-and-so would arrive—the text of the telegram: So-and-so will arrive on such-and-such day, on such-and-such plane, and so on. It was supposed that this telegram would be sent to the recipient, but some of the employees, who were scoundrels, open sinners, and transgressors, read the telegram, and they agreed among themselves to play with this woman. So they waited for the plane's arrival, and they went out with their car to meet her, and they deceived her into thinking they were sent by her husband, and that the husband was apologizing. Hey,The Shaykh : he is agreeing now, right? So that the narration is correct! [Everyone laughs] So the woman got off the plane, and they met her in the car, and said, "Please, your husband is waiting for you," and so on. And as they say in our region in Sham: "...", they took her and satisfied their lust with her, then left her. Where did this come from? From Egypt to Riyadh.
And another story happened, which some of those in whom we trust and believe in honesty told me: A woman was in Damascus from Deir al-Zor, and she called her husband saying she would come to Deir al-Zor on such-and-such plane. It seems she was beautiful, so when she boarded the plane, the flight attendant mentioned to the pilot that there is a woman here and there, describing her clothing. So they agreed with her to seduce her for the sake of the captain, or the pilot. She agreed, so the pilot announced that the plane had a malfunction, and therefore we would have to stay the night in Latakia. Latakia is, for example, north of Damascus, while Deir al-Zor is northeast. So the plane went and stayed there, and they spent a red night—as they say—with this woman. The husband went out to meet her, but she did not arrive on the plane, so he returned. The next day, the woman arrived, and he suspected her, so he questioned her and pressed her until she confessed the truth. So he did nothing but divorce her. This husband tells our friend this story. Therefore, do not be deceived into thinking that no harm occurs because of air travel. No, disasters may occur due to the variety of means, just as the causes of harm vary. So it is never permissible for a guardian to allow his wife, daughter, or any woman for whom he is a mahram to travel without a mahram.
The Shaykh : Clarify the situation for me, because it might be...
The questioner : He allows his daughter to go to the university in Damascus, to study English or Shari'ah, or something like that.
The Shaykh : Is the university co-educational?
The questioner : Yes, it is well known to you.
The Shaykh : No, by Allah, I do not know! [Everyone laughs] I left Damascus more than ten years ago. The important thing is that what I hear is that it is co-educational; in that case, the statement is correct. And recently, we were in a gathering and stayed up until eleven o'clock, and a question like this came up, so we answered with what you heard: As long as the study involves, first, mixing between young men and young women, this is not permissible. We did a long study on this, and I do not see myself as energetic enough to repeat what I said recently, but the best speech is what is brief and instructive; so you are asking, and this is the answer:
Those who told you this, you are responsible. So it is not befitting, whether the example concerns you or someone else, the important thing is that it is not permissible to put your daughter in any place in any country of the Muslim lands as long as the education there is co-educational. This is from one aspect. From another aspect, this girl might be forced to travel alone as well, and I do not imagine that her guardian would go with her to deliver her to the university, and then when the summer vacation comes, he goes to take her with him. People today are lenient in allowing women to travel without a mahram on the pretext that air travel is only a few hours, and they do not remember some of the harms that befall women who travel without a mahram. I hope Professor al-Banna will benefit us and remind us of the story he once told us; the story of that Egyptian man whose wife traveled from Egypt to Riyadh, and then some employees who read the telegram played with her. Do you remember it?
The questioner : This is well known...
The Shaykh : Good; but I want the brothers to hear the story from the source I heard it from; Jeddah or Riyadh?
The questioner: Riyadh.
The Shaykh : Riyadh, yes, I heard it from him in Riyadh, but you have apparently forgotten. So you are telling about me from yourself! [Everyone laughs] Yes, he told usThe Shaykh : al-Banna used to tell us that a telegram came to some employees in Riyadh saying that so-and-so would arrive—the text of the telegram: So-and-so will arrive on such-and-such day, on such-and-such plane, and so on. It was supposed that this telegram would be sent to the recipient, but some of the employees, who were scoundrels, open sinners, and transgressors, read the telegram, and they agreed among themselves to play with this woman. So they waited for the plane's arrival, and they went out with their car to meet her, and they deceived her into thinking they were sent by her husband, and that the husband was apologizing. Hey,The Shaykh : he is agreeing now, right? So that the narration is correct! [Everyone laughs] So the woman got off the plane, and they met her in the car, and said, "Please, your husband is waiting for you," and so on. And as they say in our region in Sham: "...", they took her and satisfied their lust with her, then left her. Where did this come from? From Egypt to Riyadh.
And another story happened, which some of those in whom we trust and believe in honesty told me: A woman was in Damascus from Deir al-Zor, and she called her husband saying she would come to Deir al-Zor on such-and-such plane. It seems she was beautiful, so when she boarded the plane, the flight attendant mentioned to the pilot that there is a woman here and there, describing her clothing. So they agreed with her to seduce her for the sake of the captain, or the pilot. She agreed, so the pilot announced that the plane had a malfunction, and therefore we would have to stay the night in Latakia. Latakia is, for example, north of Damascus, while Deir al-Zor is northeast. So the plane went and stayed there, and they spent a red night—as they say—with this woman. The husband went out to meet her, but she did not arrive on the plane, so he returned. The next day, the woman arrived, and he suspected her, so he questioned her and pressed her until she confessed the truth. So he did nothing but divorce her. This husband tells our friend this story. Therefore, do not be deceived into thinking that no harm occurs because of air travel. No, disasters may occur due to the variety of means, just as the causes of harm vary. So it is never permissible for a guardian to allow his wife, daughter, or any woman for whom he is a mahram to travel without a mahram.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.