Muslim working woman must avoid forbidden seclusion

3-3-2009 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalamo alikom, i live in the UK,married to a 60 year old british convert, she works as a secretary in a mosque, masha allah she is very active in dawa work which is part of her secritarial job, she has a small office with closed door and a window, the door can be opened at any time.
i trust my wife fully but
sometimes it makes me very angry when i open the door and find another man talking to her,it could be for dawa or mosque business reason, i told her that i'm not happy about her having any type of one to one comunication with a man behind a closed door,it does not matter for dawa or work,the door shuold be open at all times so peopole passing can see in. but she told me that she read a scholar's opinion that permits this as long as the door can be opened at any time.
As a husband do i have the right to forbid her from this type of work ? please send your islamic opion as soon as possible because this had caused seriouse problems in our marriage. jazkom allahu khairan.
Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

 

Your wife staying with a non-Mahram man behind closed doors is considered as forbidden seclusion; for more benefit in this regard, please refer to Fatwa 81895. Therefore, you have the right to prevent your wife from this forbidden seclusion and you should advise her in a soft and gentle manner, especially that she is a new Muslim –as you mentioned in the question –as she might take heed. It might be that her staying in a Da’wah organization may help her to stay firm and steadfast on this religion.

However, if she insists on staying in seclusion with non-Mahram men, then you should prevent her from carrying on this type of work. In which case, you should choose non-provocative words so that this would not lead to unpleasant consequences.

For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 88048.

Allaah Knows best.

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