Topic:
Permissibility of Working in a Male-Dominated Environment for One Year in order to go to Saudi Arabia
(No-38740)
Assalam o Alaikum Mufti Sahib,
I am a female Physiotherapy graduate from Pakistan. During my university years I adopted full shar‘i niqab and now strictly avoid free mixing and physical contact with non‑mahram men.
I completed my degree with great difficulty due to the mixed‑gender environment and physical contact involved. At present, I do not wish to continue working in such environments. I want to marry a practicing person, but many proposals are rejected because I refuse to relax my parda or religious values. I fear continuous pressure from my family and society may eventually affect my obedience to Allah.
I wish to keep the option of hijrah to Saudi Arabia open, where I could live according to Deen and work only in a female‑only setting. However, Saudi licensing requires completion of a one‑year house job/internship. My house job is scheduled to begin soon, but it involves extensive free mixing and physical contact with men, which I fear may lead to haram and harm my iman.
I am currently confused between two options:
Completing the house job in this mixed environment despite fear of falling into sin, or
Obtaining a house‑job certificate through a reference, without physically working in that environment, in order to avoid fitnah and protect my Deen.
My intention is not worldly benefit, but to safeguard my iman and keep the door of hijrah open.
Please guide me Islamically: shuld i do the house job despite fear of haram?
Or can the second option be allowed under necessity (darurah) to protect one’s Deen?
It should be noted that a woman is only permitted to leave her home for work in cases of genuine necessity, and even then, only under certain conditions. One of the fundamental conditions is that, during the course of her work, there should be no risk of falling into fitnah (temptation or moral danger) as a result of interacting with men.
Therefore, in the situation mentioned in the question, it is not permissible for the woman to spend a year working in an environment where interaction with men carries a serious risk of fitnah or harm to her faith.
Since travelling to Saudi Arabia is, in itself, a permissible act but is neither obligatory nor necessary according to Shariah, you should avoid placing yourself in any situation of fitnah for the sake of a permissible goal, and you should also refrain from adopting any unlawful or impermissible means to achieve it.
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دلائل:
القرآن الکریم: (الاحزاب، الآیة: 33)
وَقَرْنَ فِي بُيُوتِكُنَّ وَلَا تَبَرَّجْنَ تَبَرُّجَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ الْأُولَى وَأَقِمْنَ الصَّلَاةَ وَآَتِينَ الزَّكَاةَ وَأَطِعْنَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا.
القرآن الکریم: (الاحزاب، الآیة: 32)
يَانِسَاءَ النَّبِيِّ لَسْتُنَّ كَأَحَدٍ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ إِنِ اتَّقَيْتُنَّ فَلَا تَخْضَعْنَ بِالْقَوْلِ فَيَطْمَعَ الَّذِي فِي قَلْبِهِ مَرَضٌ وَقُلْنَ قَوْلًا مَعْرُوفًا.
Allah the Almighty knows best.
Darul Ifta Al-Ikhlas, Karachi.