What is the ruling on placing a wall between men and women in mosques nowadays, given that it is well known that this was not the case during the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)?
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The questioner : The barrier between women and men: if someone says that this is a religious innovation because, during the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), it was possible for them to place a branch or something similar?
The Shaykh : This is perhaps what someone might say, but what is the harm? What is the harm? If we place this wall, there are benefits:
First, the women are screened from the men, and the men are not in the state of ritual purity that the Companions were in.
Second, the women gain their freedom, for if a woman is in a protected place, she has more freedom than if people are watching her. So the situation has changed. But these people who say it is a religious innovation are closer to those who say that the lines are a religious innovation. But where are the women who wrap themselves in their cloaks so that no one recognizes them in the darkness? Where are they? Adam?
The Shaykh : This is perhaps what someone might say, but what is the harm? What is the harm? If we place this wall, there are benefits:
First, the women are screened from the men, and the men are not in the state of ritual purity that the Companions were in.
Second, the women gain their freedom, for if a woman is in a protected place, she has more freedom than if people are watching her. So the situation has changed. But these people who say it is a religious innovation are closer to those who say that the lines are a religious innovation. But where are the women who wrap themselves in their cloaks so that no one recognizes them in the darkness? Where are they? Adam?