Guidelines for Employing a Female Servant

A message was sent by one of the listening sisters, saying: Your sister Umm Muhammad says: She is the mother of four children, the eldest of whom is six years old, and there is no one of her relatives in the city where she lives. She needs help with household affairs and is considering bringing in a female servant, and her mother is pressing her to do so. However, she is not comfortable with the phenomenon of servants, as she fears the servant going out to the market without anyone to protect her. She asks: Do we protect female servants as we protect our daughters and sisters, and is this obligatory upon us? She seeks guidance.
Answer: Yes, safety from bringing in female servants is preferable and better. If the woman does what is required of her in the house and seeks help from Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) and dispenses with the need for servants, that is better for her and further from danger. The servant may not be one of religious commitment, in which case she would harm the house and its people, and harm the husband if there is a husband in the house, or the woman’s brother, or other men.
So the conclusion is that safety from female servants is preferable and more cautious. If necessity and dire necessity call for it, then one should choose a good Muslim female servant, and she should be observed and monitored so that nothing occurs that contradicts the command of Allah.
Likewise, she is prevented from going out unless she is one in whom trust is placed in this regard, and the going out is for a need, such as buying a need from the market, if the town is safe and there is no danger in going out. Otherwise, let a second or third person, or one who is trustworthy, go out with her so that she is accompanied until she fulfills the need and returns.
So the conclusion is: This situation requires care, fear of Allah, monitoring, and distance from what may lead to danger that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) does not approve of.
And whenever safety from servants is possible, and the woman can manage the needs of the house, and she can rest from the dangers that may arise from the presence of the servant, whether with the husband, or with the men of the house, or outside when she goes out for needs, this is better for the house and its people. And success is from Allah.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good. So, is caring for the affairs of the female servant like caring for the affairs of the women of the house?
The Shaykh: Yes.. Yes, it is obligatory upon them. Yes, it is obligatory upon them to care for her. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.