Clarification of the ruling on placing a screen that separates men and women in mosques
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The questioner : Then, meaning, this women’s prayer area. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), so are the Muslims of this era more God-fearing than the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)?
The Shaykh : What do you mean by the women’s prayer area?
The questioner : Do you mean that this place, the mosque where they pray and call it the women’s prayer area, is a mosque they build separately from the men’s prayer area, even though it is established in the Sunnah that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) would place the men in front and the women behind?
The Shaykh : And we have mentioned in many gatherings that placing a screen between men and women is, of course, contrary to the Sunnah, and the motivation for it is a deviation from the Sunnah. This is a suitable example related to the topic of maslakh al-mursalah (unspecified public interests), in which we explain and say that not every means that achieves a Shari'ah objective is permissible to use, because there must be detail. From that detail, we must look at whether the motivation and cause for bringing this means into existence was the Muslims’ negligence in carrying out some of the rulings of the religion, or not? If it was the former, it was not a prescribed means; if it was the latter, it is permissible. Now, why did these prayer areas come into existence, as you say? Because many women leave their homes without wearing the Shari'ah jilbab, then they enter the mosque and pray likewise, and some of them may use jilbabs and clothes such that when they enter prayer, they are, meaning, covered by the Shari'ah screen. But even this is not permissible, but we leave that aside for now. What led people to place these barriers of cement walls separating the women’s prayer area from the men is so that the gazes of men do not fall upon the women. What is prohibited about the gazes of men falling upon the women in this state? We say the prohibition is that the gazes of men will fall upon what is not permissible to look at, because the women in the prayer area are not wearing the Shari'ah hijab. However, if they were wearing the Shari'ah jilbab, and the gaze of men fell upon the women, especially since they are in the back, the gaze of men would not fall upon what is forbidden, because it is assumed that these women who attended the mosque are in one of two forms: the better and the permissible. The better is that they are wearing jilbabs and hijabs such that nothing of them appears at all, not the face or the hands, meaning either wearing niqabs in the known old way, or wearing burqas in the known way today, and they are covered such that nothing is seen of them. This is the best. The other form is that these women have nothing of them appearing at all except the face and the hands, and in addition to that, their clothing is not adornment in itself and does not tighten any of their limbs. In that case, if the gaze of a man falls upon some of them, he will not see what is forbidden.
The Shaykh : What do you mean by the women’s prayer area?
The questioner : Do you mean that this place, the mosque where they pray and call it the women’s prayer area, is a mosque they build separately from the men’s prayer area, even though it is established in the Sunnah that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) would place the men in front and the women behind?
The Shaykh : And we have mentioned in many gatherings that placing a screen between men and women is, of course, contrary to the Sunnah, and the motivation for it is a deviation from the Sunnah. This is a suitable example related to the topic of maslakh al-mursalah (unspecified public interests), in which we explain and say that not every means that achieves a Shari'ah objective is permissible to use, because there must be detail. From that detail, we must look at whether the motivation and cause for bringing this means into existence was the Muslims’ negligence in carrying out some of the rulings of the religion, or not? If it was the former, it was not a prescribed means; if it was the latter, it is permissible. Now, why did these prayer areas come into existence, as you say? Because many women leave their homes without wearing the Shari'ah jilbab, then they enter the mosque and pray likewise, and some of them may use jilbabs and clothes such that when they enter prayer, they are, meaning, covered by the Shari'ah screen. But even this is not permissible, but we leave that aside for now. What led people to place these barriers of cement walls separating the women’s prayer area from the men is so that the gazes of men do not fall upon the women. What is prohibited about the gazes of men falling upon the women in this state? We say the prohibition is that the gazes of men will fall upon what is not permissible to look at, because the women in the prayer area are not wearing the Shari'ah hijab. However, if they were wearing the Shari'ah jilbab, and the gaze of men fell upon the women, especially since they are in the back, the gaze of men would not fall upon what is forbidden, because it is assumed that these women who attended the mosque are in one of two forms: the better and the permissible. The better is that they are wearing jilbabs and hijabs such that nothing of them appears at all, not the face or the hands, meaning either wearing niqabs in the known old way, or wearing burqas in the known way today, and they are covered such that nothing is seen of them. This is the best. The other form is that these women have nothing of them appearing at all except the face and the hands, and in addition to that, their clothing is not adornment in itself and does not tighten any of their limbs. In that case, if the gaze of a man falls upon some of them, he will not see what is forbidden.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.