about a woman studying with disbelievers in the presence of her mahram?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Well, regarding the issue of free mixing of men and women—may the Shaykh be respected—there are always questions and problems about this topic, as you know.
The Shaykh: Yes, by Allah.
The questioner : If a woman is fully covered—for example, even wearing a niqab—and she is studying, and she needs to learn from a source of knowledge where there is no woman to teach her, if she learns from a man in the presence of a mahram—for example, her husband or father in the room or in the office or something like that—is this permissible or not permissible?
The Shaykh: If it is, as you say, in the presence of a mahram, first.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh: And if her hijab is a Shari'ah-compliant hijab, second.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh: And finally, if her sitting before him, her conversation with him, and his conversation with her are also within the limits of Shari'ah etiquette, with no joking or laughter, then I say it is permissible; otherwise, it is not.
The questioner : What if this teacher is a disbeliever?
The Shaykh: No; because a disbeliever is not to be trusted.
The questioner : It is not permissible.
The Shaykh: No.
The questioner : Well, because the knowledge she is studying, they do not know anyone other than this disbeliever teacher?
The Shaykh: Well, first: can you clarify and explain about this knowledge?
The questioner : I mean, regarding what concerns me, I am studying a master's degree in computer science, so I have a problem that needs a solution, and I can no longer reach a solution from a female teacher who teaches it to me, and there is one male teacher of average standing.
The Shaykh : No problem.
The questioner: ... the matter is about three hours of teaching.
The Shaykh: No problem, just...
The questioner : Is there one available? Is it permissible for me to learn from him or not permissible?
The Shaykh: What is it—may Allah bless you—the issue was not that a woman must learn from a woman; because that is a settled matter, a settled matter, understood from it. The issue was whether this Muslim woman is permitted to learn from a disbeliever under the conditions I mentioned earlier. Now you have jumped from the woman to the disbeliever man, whereas there is a middle solution: if the woman is not available, look for the Muslim man in the presence of the mahram, and in the presence of the conditions mentioned earlier. I feel that you...
The questioner : ... is it haram [to learn from] the disbeliever?
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : If a Muslim man is not available to teach me this thing, is it haram for me to learn from a disbeliever?
The Shaykh: By Allah, this now falls under the general rule: if you are in dire necessity, then dire necessities permit the prohibited; otherwise, the original ruling is that it is not permissible.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Yes, may the Shaykh be respected.
The Shaykh: Yes, by Allah.
The questioner : If a woman is fully covered—for example, even wearing a niqab—and she is studying, and she needs to learn from a source of knowledge where there is no woman to teach her, if she learns from a man in the presence of a mahram—for example, her husband or father in the room or in the office or something like that—is this permissible or not permissible?
The Shaykh: If it is, as you say, in the presence of a mahram, first.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh: And if her hijab is a Shari'ah-compliant hijab, second.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh: And finally, if her sitting before him, her conversation with him, and his conversation with her are also within the limits of Shari'ah etiquette, with no joking or laughter, then I say it is permissible; otherwise, it is not.
The questioner : What if this teacher is a disbeliever?
The Shaykh: No; because a disbeliever is not to be trusted.
The questioner : It is not permissible.
The Shaykh: No.
The questioner : Well, because the knowledge she is studying, they do not know anyone other than this disbeliever teacher?
The Shaykh: Well, first: can you clarify and explain about this knowledge?
The questioner : I mean, regarding what concerns me, I am studying a master's degree in computer science, so I have a problem that needs a solution, and I can no longer reach a solution from a female teacher who teaches it to me, and there is one male teacher of average standing.
The Shaykh : No problem.
The questioner: ... the matter is about three hours of teaching.
The Shaykh: No problem, just...
The questioner : Is there one available? Is it permissible for me to learn from him or not permissible?
The Shaykh: What is it—may Allah bless you—the issue was not that a woman must learn from a woman; because that is a settled matter, a settled matter, understood from it. The issue was whether this Muslim woman is permitted to learn from a disbeliever under the conditions I mentioned earlier. Now you have jumped from the woman to the disbeliever man, whereas there is a middle solution: if the woman is not available, look for the Muslim man in the presence of the mahram, and in the presence of the conditions mentioned earlier. I feel that you...
The questioner : ... is it haram [to learn from] the disbeliever?
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : If a Muslim man is not available to teach me this thing, is it haram for me to learn from a disbeliever?
The Shaykh: By Allah, this now falls under the general rule: if you are in dire necessity, then dire necessities permit the prohibited; otherwise, the original ruling is that it is not permissible.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Yes, may the Shaykh be respected.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.