Is it permissible to work or study in universities where there is free mixing of men and women?
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The student : Shaykh, there are some universities abroad that have a type of free mixing of men and women. Is it permissible for a person to study in them or work in these universities, or something similar to that?
The Shaykh : I do not see that as permissible. It is not permissible to study there, nor to study there.
The student : It does not need detailing, Shaykh, if a person is of benefit to people through Allah and is confident in himself.
The Shaykh : The matter does not need detailing, may Allah reward you; because the Muslim is accountable for himself before others. If someone could give us a guarantee that this teacher, who is of benefit to people through Allah, will not be harmed by immersing himself in that mixed society—as they say in our region in the Levant, "mixed and jumbled"—and will not be affected, then it is exactly as you say. But in my opinion, the matter is as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith:Bulugh al-Maram 16:32 . Therefore, I do not advise a man who fears Allah to entangle himself and enter these paths. Save yourself: [Al-Ma'idah 5:105] . And the truth is, I know this opinion is held by many Islamic preachers, and I consider this to be due to the pressure of the atmosphere in the present day and its trial.
The student : Even if this knowledge is something that Muslims are obligated to learn, and there is no one among the Muslims who knows it except if one of them goes to those lands?
The Shaykh : If by your words you mean—and I do not think that is the case—that this knowledge or this teaching is an individual obligation upon this person, then at that time I agree with you that it is permissible.
The Shaykh : I do not see that as permissible. It is not permissible to study there, nor to study there.
The student : It does not need detailing, Shaykh, if a person is of benefit to people through Allah and is confident in himself.
The Shaykh : The matter does not need detailing, may Allah reward you; because the Muslim is accountable for himself before others. If someone could give us a guarantee that this teacher, who is of benefit to people through Allah, will not be harmed by immersing himself in that mixed society—as they say in our region in the Levant, "mixed and jumbled"—and will not be affected, then it is exactly as you say. But in my opinion, the matter is as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith:
is like a shepherd who pastures (his animals) near the Hima (private pasture) of someone else and at any moment he is liable to get in it
ومن حام حول الحمى يوشك أن يقع فيهO you who have believed, upon you is [responsibility for] yourselves. Those who have gone astray will not harm you when you have been guided
يا أيها الذين آمنوا عليكم أنفسكم لا يضركم من ضل إذا اهتديتمThe student : Even if this knowledge is something that Muslims are obligated to learn, and there is no one among the Muslims who knows it except if one of them goes to those lands?
The Shaykh : If by your words you mean—and I do not think that is the case—that this knowledge or this teaching is an individual obligation upon this person, then at that time I agree with you that it is permissible.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.