And regarding a problem with severe consequences, I ask you, may Allah preserve you, to discuss it and clarify its negative impact on the nation and its citizens. Women have started coming to our country in large numbers.
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The questioner : Peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings. And regarding a problem with severe consequences, I ask you, may Allah preserve you, to discuss it and clarify its negative impact on the nation and its citizens. Women have started coming to our country in large numbers, and alas, non-Muslim women have started coming to us from here and there, living in Muslim homes and raising our children. These women, O honorable Shaykh, in turn, have effects that are not hidden from Muslims, especially since they hate Islam and conceal their hatred for Muslims. Since their mixing with us poses a danger to us, our children, and our youth, we ask for advice and clarification for the citizens and a warning about its severe consequences. May Allah guide you?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may the prayers and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. This question raised by the brother is one of the matters in which many people have fallen by hiring servants, both male and female. In reality, hiring both types carries danger from two aspects: social aspects and moral aspects.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : As for the social aspects, if a person becomes accustomed to luxury, not working, having no trade or profession at home, being lazy, and relying on others, all of this has a psychological danger on a person’s behavior, psyche, and thinking, because he becomes accustomed to luxury, comfort, and reliance on others.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : This affects him and leaves a great void in his soul, from which he does not enjoy any benefit in his life, or rather, because of it. Therefore, you see the woman who has hired a maid; you see her with an empty mind and empty thoughts, not working or moving, her blood stagnant and her food undigested, because she remains as if she is a drunkard at the edge of her house, placing her hand on her cheek as they say.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : She does not move or do anything, and this affects her psychologically and physically.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : This is from the social aspect. From the moral aspect, if these servants are female, they are a danger not only to the young men in the house but also to the head of the household, because Satan flows through the son of Adam as blood flows.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Perhaps he will be incited toward a woman who may not be of noble lineage or beauty, but simply because she is forbidden to him by the Shari'ah, or he is forbidden from her by the Shari'ah, Satan beautifies her in his heart, so he becomes one to whom his evil deed has been made beautiful, and he sees it as good.
The questioner : We seek refuge in Allah.
The Shaykh : We ask Allah for safety. A person might say: We are, praise be to Allah, on a firm religion, and we are safe regarding ourselves. But this is a matter of the heart, and when a person is exposed to trials, he falls into them. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded a person, when he hears about the Dajjal, to stay away from him, because a man might come and say: I am a believer, I will not believe in the Dajjal. But he will not cease to lead him into trials until he misguides him from the path of Allah.
Likewise, regarding the male servants who come from abroad, there is a possibility that a person becomes reliant on others, entrusting his affairs to others, and not being directly concerned with them, and this is a social harm.
And regarding families with daughters, sisters, and wives, it is also a danger to them, because, unfortunately, we hear that some people send their daughter or sister or wife with this driver alone to drive her in the car.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : He drives her around the markets, in the internal markets of the town or the outer ones, and perhaps he takes her out of the town. Then, if he wants to take her out of it, who would stop him? Therefore, it is not permissible for a person to allow his wife or daughter to ride with the driver alone, for this is one of the greatest forms of seclusion that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade in his saying in the hadith of Ibn Abbas, established in the two Sahihs:Sahih Muslim 1341a. It is not said that this is not seclusion because they are walking in the market. Yes, they are walking in the market, but they are in seclusion, because this car is like a room or a chamber, and this man is alone with this woman, so he is able to speak to her whatever he wishes, and laugh at her and she laughs at him, and he is able to agree with her easily to go out of the town and do whatever they wish.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : So the matter is very serious. Whether we say it is seclusion, as is clear to us, or we say it is not seclusion, it is certainly an exposure to trials.
Then, some people say that my wife, praise be to Allah, is safe and fears Allah, or that my daughter is likewise safe and fears Allah and dreads the consequences in this world and the Hereafter. We say: Whatever the case may be, Satan flows through the son of Adam as blood flows.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And this century in which we are is not better than the century in which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was. It is established in the two Sahihs that a man hired a man to work for him, and this man committed zina with his wife—meaning the wife of the one who hired him. So the father of the man informed that his son was liable to be stoned, and he ransomed him with one hundred sheep and a slave woman. Then he asked the scholars, and they informed him that his son was liable to be flogged one hundred times and exiled for a year, because this son had not been married. Then the man and the husband of the woman—the husband of the woman—appealed to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so he judged between them by the Book of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He. He returned the sheep and the slave woman to the father of the son and informed him that his son was liable to be flogged one hundred times and exiled for a year. And he said to Anis—a man from the Ansar:Sahih al-Bukhari 2314, 2315 So he went to her and she confessed, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered her to be stoned.
The result is that this story occurred between the hired worker and the wife of the one who hired him in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And he is the best of the generations, the safest from trials, and the farthest from corruption. Yet this story occurred. Is it not possible for it to occur in our time? It is possible, indeed, it is closer and closer and much closer to occurring in our time than it was in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
The questioner : But here...
The Shaykh : For this reason, we say: This matter carries great danger, and it is obligatory for a person not to hire a servant except when there is a need. Then, if he hires a male servant, he should place him in a house outside his own house.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Likewise, if he uses a female servant in the house, he should strive with utmost effort that she does not remain alone with any of the men, so that the forbidden thing does not occur. Yes.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may the prayers and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. This question raised by the brother is one of the matters in which many people have fallen by hiring servants, both male and female. In reality, hiring both types carries danger from two aspects: social aspects and moral aspects.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : As for the social aspects, if a person becomes accustomed to luxury, not working, having no trade or profession at home, being lazy, and relying on others, all of this has a psychological danger on a person’s behavior, psyche, and thinking, because he becomes accustomed to luxury, comfort, and reliance on others.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : This affects him and leaves a great void in his soul, from which he does not enjoy any benefit in his life, or rather, because of it. Therefore, you see the woman who has hired a maid; you see her with an empty mind and empty thoughts, not working or moving, her blood stagnant and her food undigested, because she remains as if she is a drunkard at the edge of her house, placing her hand on her cheek as they say.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : She does not move or do anything, and this affects her psychologically and physically.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : This is from the social aspect. From the moral aspect, if these servants are female, they are a danger not only to the young men in the house but also to the head of the household, because Satan flows through the son of Adam as blood flows.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Perhaps he will be incited toward a woman who may not be of noble lineage or beauty, but simply because she is forbidden to him by the Shari'ah, or he is forbidden from her by the Shari'ah, Satan beautifies her in his heart, so he becomes one to whom his evil deed has been made beautiful, and he sees it as good.
The questioner : We seek refuge in Allah.
The Shaykh : We ask Allah for safety. A person might say: We are, praise be to Allah, on a firm religion, and we are safe regarding ourselves. But this is a matter of the heart, and when a person is exposed to trials, he falls into them. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded a person, when he hears about the Dajjal, to stay away from him, because a man might come and say: I am a believer, I will not believe in the Dajjal. But he will not cease to lead him into trials until he misguides him from the path of Allah.
Likewise, regarding the male servants who come from abroad, there is a possibility that a person becomes reliant on others, entrusting his affairs to others, and not being directly concerned with them, and this is a social harm.
And regarding families with daughters, sisters, and wives, it is also a danger to them, because, unfortunately, we hear that some people send their daughter or sister or wife with this driver alone to drive her in the car.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : He drives her around the markets, in the internal markets of the town or the outer ones, and perhaps he takes her out of the town. Then, if he wants to take her out of it, who would stop him? Therefore, it is not permissible for a person to allow his wife or daughter to ride with the driver alone, for this is one of the greatest forms of seclusion that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade in his saying in the hadith of Ibn Abbas, established in the two Sahihs:
No person should be alone with a woman
لا يخلوَنَّ رجل بامرأةThe questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : So the matter is very serious. Whether we say it is seclusion, as is clear to us, or we say it is not seclusion, it is certainly an exposure to trials.
Then, some people say that my wife, praise be to Allah, is safe and fears Allah, or that my daughter is likewise safe and fears Allah and dreads the consequences in this world and the Hereafter. We say: Whatever the case may be, Satan flows through the son of Adam as blood flows.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And this century in which we are is not better than the century in which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was. It is established in the two Sahihs that a man hired a man to work for him, and this man committed zina with his wife—meaning the wife of the one who hired him. So the father of the man informed that his son was liable to be stoned, and he ransomed him with one hundred sheep and a slave woman. Then he asked the scholars, and they informed him that his son was liable to be flogged one hundred times and exiled for a year, because this son had not been married. Then the man and the husband of the woman—the husband of the woman—appealed to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so he judged between them by the Book of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He. He returned the sheep and the slave woman to the father of the son and informed him that his son was liable to be flogged one hundred times and exiled for a year. And he said to Anis—a man from the Ansar:
O Unais! Go to the wife of this (man) and if she confesses (that she has committed illegal sexual intercourse), then stone her to death.
اغدُ يا أنيس إلى امرأة هذا فإن اعترفت فارجمهاThe result is that this story occurred between the hired worker and the wife of the one who hired him in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And he is the best of the generations, the safest from trials, and the farthest from corruption. Yet this story occurred. Is it not possible for it to occur in our time? It is possible, indeed, it is closer and closer and much closer to occurring in our time than it was in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
The questioner : But here...
The Shaykh : For this reason, we say: This matter carries great danger, and it is obligatory for a person not to hire a servant except when there is a need. Then, if he hires a male servant, he should place him in a house outside his own house.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Likewise, if he uses a female servant in the house, he should strive with utmost effort that she does not remain alone with any of the men, so that the forbidden thing does not occur. Yes.