Fariq Naik – Men with Women Working Together Is it Permissible

Fariq Naik
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A caller from a company called out several questions about the operation. They ask if it is possible for non-mehram men and women to work in an office or workplace where there is no segregation of gender. They stress the importance of having separate department for men and women in certain situations, and stress the need for individuals to avoid unnecessary interaction. They also discuss the importance of avoiding workplace bullying and the need for individuals to avoid unnecessary interactions.

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			The next question, Assalamu Alaikum, my name is
		
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			Tash and I'm an entrepreneur from Kuala Lumpur,
		
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			Malaysia.
		
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			I have two questions, the first is, is
		
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			it permissible for non-mehram men and women
		
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			to work together with no segregation in an
		
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			office?
		
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			My second question is, is it permissible for
		
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			a Muslim male YouTuber to have a lengthy
		
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			discussion podcast with a non-mehram woman on
		
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			a YouTube live stream?
		
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			As far as men and women working in
		
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			an organization or in an office or in
		
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			a workplace where there is no segregation of
		
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			the opposite gender, this should not be done.
		
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			This should be totally avoided because it would
		
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			break the rules of Sharia, it would break
		
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			the rules of Islam and we find many
		
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			a times that when there is no proper
		
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			segregation of the opposite gender, there is unnecessary
		
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			communication, there is unnecessary giggling and there is
		
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			unnecessary interaction between the opposite genders.
		
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			So, in an office or in a workplace,
		
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			we should see to it that there is
		
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			proper segregation of the opposite gender.
		
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			When a male or a female is working
		
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			in an organization or in an office or
		
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			in a workplace, there should be segregation of
		
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			the opposite gender.
		
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			There should be separate, either separate departments for
		
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			the women and men or there should be
		
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			separate rooms for the women and for the
		
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			men.
		
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			A separate department for the men and a
		
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			separate department for the women.
		
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			A separate room for the men and a
		
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			separate room for the women.
		
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			This is very important so that the criteria
		
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			of hijab, it is not broken.
		
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			In certain rare situations, if there is no
		
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			separate department for men and women and men
		
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			and women, they are working in the same
		
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			place, there should be no intermingling of the
		
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			opposite gender.
		
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			There should be no unnecessary giggling.
		
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			There should be no unnecessary laughing which is
		
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			very difficult in most of the situations.
		
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			But if the rules of hijab are maintained
		
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			and if there is no intermingling, then inshallah
		
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			it should be fine.
		
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			But again, I would like to stress and
		
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			say that the best is to have separate
		
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			premises for men and separate premises for women
		
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			or to have separate department for men and
		
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			to have separate department for women in a
		
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			workplace or in an office.
		
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			And many a times we find that in
		
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			most of the offices, there is no proper
		
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			segregation of the opposite gender and we find
		
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			there is unnecessary giggling, unnecessary interaction, unnecessary laughing,
		
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			intermingling of the opposite gender.
		
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			Many a times, a man and a woman,
		
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			they have a meeting in a closed room
		
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			and they are the only people who are
		
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			present.
		
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			This is totally against the teachings of Islam.
		
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			This man and woman, they are not mahram
		
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			to each other.
		
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			Our beloved Prophet Muhammad said that if a
		
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			man and a woman are alone, the third
		
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			person is a devil.
		
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			So if a man and a woman who
		
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			are not mahram to each other, who are
		
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			non-mahram if they are present in a
		
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			room alone, the third person is a devil.
		
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			But we find this that it is common.
		
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			Many a times, a boss invites his employee
		
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			who is a woman in an office that
		
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			is under closed doors or in an office
		
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			that is closed wherein only a man and
		
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			a woman are present or in a room
		
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			wherein only a man and a woman, wherein
		
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			only the boss and his employee who is
		
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			a female is present.
		
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			This should be totally avoided and this goes
		
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			against the teachings of Islam and especially when
		
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			a woman is working.
		
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			She should see to it that she maintains
		
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			her hijab and her modesty and she does
		
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			not break any rules of the Islamic Sharia.
		
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			Generally, it is the man who is the
		
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			bread earner of the family.
		
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			It is not required for a woman to
		
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			work but if she wishes she may work
		
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			but she should maintain her hijab and her
		
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			modesty.
		
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			She should not break any rules of the
		
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			Islamic Sharia.
		
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			The same applies to the man as well.
		
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			He should not break any rules of the
		
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			Islamic Sharia.
		
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			Coming to your second question that can a
		
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			male have a podcast or an interview, for
		
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			example, a YouTube live stream with a woman.
		
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			As far as having an interview with a
		
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			woman is concerned, this should be avoided and
		
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			many a times we find that this is
		
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			common because if you are having an interview
		
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			with a woman, for example, for an hour,
		
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			for one and a half hour, it would
		
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			be very difficult for you to lower your
		
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			gaze and even if the interview is online,
		
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			for example, it's a podcast online or if
		
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			it is a YouTube online stream and the
		
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			person who's interviewing is a woman, this should
		
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			also be avoided as well and we find
		
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			unfortunately many of the people who talk regarding
		
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			Islam and they explain Islam and many a
		
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			times they have a woman who interviews them
		
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			unfortunately and many of the people they do
		
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			this on purpose trying to say that Islam
		
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			is a diverse religion.
		
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			Islam is a modern religion.
		
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			What is the need for a man to
		
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			have an interview with a woman?
		
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			There are so many men who are available.
		
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			You can easily have an interview with a
		
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			man.
		
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			So that is the reason this should be
		
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			totally avoided.
		
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			It would break the rules of Islam and
		
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			Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the
		
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			glorious Qur'an in Surah An-Nur chapter
		
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			24, verse number 30 قُلِّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ يَغْضُوا مِنَ
		
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			أَبْصَارِهِمْ وَيَحْفَظُوا فَرُوجَهُمْ Say to the believing man
		
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			that he should lower his gaze and guard
		
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			his moresty.
		
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			Whenever any man looks at any woman, if
		
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			any brazen thought, if any unashamed thought comes
		
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			to his mind, he should lower his gaze.
		
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			The same applies for the woman.
		
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			Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in Surah
		
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			An-Nur chapter 24, verse number 31 قُلِّ
		
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			الْمُؤْمِنِينَ يَغْضُوا مِنَ أَبْصَارِهِمْ وَيَحْفَظُوا فَرُوجَهُمْ Say to
		
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			the believing woman that she should lower her
		
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			gaze and guard her moresty.
		
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			So lowering the gaze is very important.
		
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			So we should see to that whatever we
		
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			are doing, it is within the purviews of
		
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			the Islamic Sharia.
		
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			Having an interview with a woman, whether it
		
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			be a live interview or whether it be
		
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			an on-site interview or whether it be
		
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			an online interview, all of this should be
		
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			avoided and there is no need for having
		
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			an interview with a woman.
		
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			There is no need for a man to
		
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			have an interview with a woman.
		
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			You can easily have a man take your
		
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			interview and many a times it would lead
		
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			to a person breaking the rules of Islamic
		
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			Sharia.
		
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			That is the reason we should take precautions
		
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			always and we should not do anything that
		
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			would lead us to doing something that is
		
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			haram, something that is prohibited in Islam.
		
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			you