What is the ruling on one who works in a mixed workplace and becomes sinful?

The questioner : My master, may Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : And beware of that.

The questioner : The second part of the question: Is the man who works in this mixed workplace sinful?

The Shaykh : Yes, indeed, ... but we must keep in mind that the sin of committing a forbidden act is not like the sin of committing a means that may lead to a forbidden act. This is a fact; we must distinguish between the two. As for the sin, it encompasses everyone, because , and as we said earlier, the one who mixes with this society or is in a circle where there are women, especially women who display their adornment, it is not possible for him not to be exposed to disobedience. This is impossible because it is the nature of man. The Messenger (peace be upon him) referred to this nature with the phrase that it is compulsion for oneself, but it is not the compulsion meant by the Jabriyyah. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ; meaning that it is incumbent upon a person to be non-infallible, a decree imposed upon him. No matter how much you try to purify yourself and stay away from violating the rulings of the Shari'ah, or at least some of them, you will not be able to find a way to do so, because you were created as a human being and not as an angel. No, . But look, the detail may be reached by the means or by the goal, and this is the detail in the hadiths: . Here, there is no compulsion, no inevitability. Is the private part inevitable? No. But the preliminaries are inevitable. No righteous or wicked person says that his eye is preserved one hundred percent. A liar, this hadith refutes him. His ear does not hear the sound of women and their softened, artificial voices as you hear today on some radio stations. It is a lie. And accordingly, it is not permissible to touch women. He tries by every means to touch, even by way of a trick, saying, "Oh brother, if we do not shake hands, they will say about us, 'What is this stiffness, O Messenger of Allah?'" in the Syrian expression, and "What is this harshness?" This is a bad opinion of women and part of the philosophy you know. Therefore, a person must fall into hesitation. I swear by Allah, I am almost eighty years old and I do not mix with women, but sometimes some women come to us for a tajwid lesson with my wife, and they attend, etc. I fear for myself at the age of eighty, so what can a person say about the youth who live between four walls with one of the most beautiful things Allah created beside them? Yes, by Allah.
The student : She is not beautiful, but Shaykh, absolutely, she is pure.

The Shaykh : Pure, Allahu Akbar!
The student : An Islamic society. The work is for the man. The man is the one who goes out, and she remains. This verse... it mixes... with his wealth. There are societies, so the man no longer has a choice. Now, it is rare for a society to exist or not exist, even for the distant one. So the woman comes in this form, displaying her adornment, and goes out... Even if you open a grocery store, you will cover it with a special job, and these places will come to you... Now, even in the offices and institutions where the majority of employees are men, you will find, for example, a Jordanian in a center... for separation.

The Shaykh : Like the break time.
The student : No, no, a type of team, meaning that this matter is imposed on this man. It is imposed, and even in a private shop, it is imposed on him. A woman will come and buy her necessities. He has become, by way of blocking the means to harm, able to prevent this matter... or is it not from the category of...

The Shaykh : They are not equal, for example, O Abu Yahya. There is a great difference between a woman who comes to the grocer or the butcher, or suppose it is any other work you wish. She comes to buy something in a few minutes, then leaves. And barely has she left when another comes. Two or three may gather at his place, and men may gather there, etc. The forbidden thing that the Messenger (peace be upon him) dwelt upon in the previous hadith: Do you think that it is realized in such a situation as it is in these closed rooms? There is a great difference between the two matters. And I will help you, so that the last one does not help you. I have brought you what happened in the time of the Messenger (peace be upon him) — the greatest and brightest era — so that you can measure what happens in our time. So you have now given an example that this is something imposed on us, even for grocers and the like! The example is a man who came to the Messenger (peace be upon him) and said: "A woman came to me wanting to buy dates from me, so I said to her: 'Here in the inner room are better dates.' So she entered. He said: 'I did not leave anything that a man does with his wife except that I did it with her, except that I did not have intercourse with her.' He said: . He said: 'Yes.' So Allah (Mighty and Majestic) revealed: This happens, but if this happened in such a society and in such a place that is frequently visited, would it not be imagined that it would happen more and more in such a place that is not frequently visited? Thus, they are not equal, for example, absolutely. A person cannot prevent everything because he cannot prevent everything. That is, now we cannot say: "We are not able to leave the house," so we must leave the house. But we must also not see these forbidden sights. But who says that what we see on the road is like seeing it in my spacious house? Who says that if I see it in my spacious house, it is like seeing it in my confined room, even if the door is open? And who says that the matter is the same if the door is closed? These are examples of multiple forms. So we do not measure, at least, the last form, i.e., in the room with its door closed, against the glances that occur from some of us at the nearby scenes. There is a great difference between this and that. Therefore, it is obligatory for the Muslim to protect himself from falling, by his own choice, into the causes that may entangle him and may lead to the ruin of his chaste life. Yes, indeed. There is a difference between the two matters, and the difference is very, very clear. And the truth is that the cure is for Muslims to return to their religion and for each of the two sexes to adhere to the function for which Allah (Mighty and Majestic) created him. So the function of the man is to go out for his interests outside the house, and the function of the woman is to attend to the interests of the house while she is in the heart of the house, as the Lord of mankind said in the Qur'an: . So the matter, as Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said, is: "The original state for women is not going out, and the original state for men is going out." So it is not permissible for a person now to equate men and women. As the man goes out to attend to his interests, so the woman goes out for her interests. The woman's going out to attend to her interests is an incidental matter, whereas the man's going out to attend to the interests of the house is a necessary matter, a necessary matter that must be done.