The people's need for female doctors in the presence of free mixing of men and women
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Question:
In light of this topic, I have some questions in mind, Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz. Should I ask them or not?
The Shaykh: Yes, there is nothing wrong with it.
The presenter: Women in our time are in need of medicine, without a doubt, and girls are in need of studying medicine so that they can serve women. Women have encountered the issue of free mixing with the doctor, with the teacher as well, and with the patients. You must have prepared and balanced these two matters, Your Eminence:
The first matter: the woman's need for medical treatment.
The second matter: the girl who studies medicine must mix with men; because there is not yet a separate college of medicine, and there are not yet hospitals that are free of men. What is the answer, if you would be so kind?
Answer:
A woman's religion is more binding upon her than treating people or benefiting people. Her religion, her reputation, her modesty, and Allah's pleasure with her take precedence over her benefit to people. So, if she cannot attain the learning by which she would benefit her sisters, her people, and her society except by what harms her in her religion, causes danger for her, and exposes her to trial, then preserving her religion, her reputation, and her modesty takes precedence over benefiting people. This is what I believe, and this is what we see as obligatory for both sons and daughters: that each one should be careful to preserve his or her religion and the soundness of his or her faith from what scratches it or harms it.
One should not make the excuse that not learning will harm my people or my society. Rather, he must preserve his religion first, and he must strive to preserve his religion and its soundness, and then strive to benefit people after that. So, he does not place the benefit of people before his own destruction, like a lamp that lights the way for people but burns itself, like a wick, as a group of scholars mentioned in their analogy of the scholar who destroys himself while teaching people, but he does not act upon his knowledge; rather, his action contradicts his knowledge. So, he is like a wick that burns itself to light the way for others. There is no power and no strength except with Allah. Yes.
In light of this topic, I have some questions in mind, Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz. Should I ask them or not?
The Shaykh: Yes, there is nothing wrong with it.
The presenter: Women in our time are in need of medicine, without a doubt, and girls are in need of studying medicine so that they can serve women. Women have encountered the issue of free mixing with the doctor, with the teacher as well, and with the patients. You must have prepared and balanced these two matters, Your Eminence:
The first matter: the woman's need for medical treatment.
The second matter: the girl who studies medicine must mix with men; because there is not yet a separate college of medicine, and there are not yet hospitals that are free of men. What is the answer, if you would be so kind?
Answer:
A woman's religion is more binding upon her than treating people or benefiting people. Her religion, her reputation, her modesty, and Allah's pleasure with her take precedence over her benefit to people. So, if she cannot attain the learning by which she would benefit her sisters, her people, and her society except by what harms her in her religion, causes danger for her, and exposes her to trial, then preserving her religion, her reputation, and her modesty takes precedence over benefiting people. This is what I believe, and this is what we see as obligatory for both sons and daughters: that each one should be careful to preserve his or her religion and the soundness of his or her faith from what scratches it or harms it.
One should not make the excuse that not learning will harm my people or my society. Rather, he must preserve his religion first, and he must strive to preserve his religion and its soundness, and then strive to benefit people after that. So, he does not place the benefit of people before his own destruction, like a lamp that lights the way for people but burns itself, like a wick, as a group of scholars mentioned in their analogy of the scholar who destroys himself while teaching people, but he does not act upon his knowledge; rather, his action contradicts his knowledge. So, he is like a wick that burns itself to light the way for others. There is no power and no strength except with Allah. Yes.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.