Free Mixing
الاختلاط بين الرجال والنساءUnrestricted mixing between non-mahram men and women in ways that disregard Islamic boundaries
Hadith
الحديث النبويعَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم خَيْرُ صُفُوفِ الرِّجَالِ أَوَّلُهَا وَشَرُّهَا آخِرُهَا وَخَيْرُ صُفُوفِ النِّسَاءِ آخِرُهَا وَشَرُّهَا أَوَّلُهَا
Abu Huraira reported:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The best rows for men are the front rows and the worst are the back rows. The best rows for women are the back rows and the worst are the front rows.”
عَنْ أَبِي أُذَيْنَةَ الصَّدَفِيِّ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ خَيْرُ نِسَائِكُمُ الْوَدُودُ الْوَلُودُ الْمُوَاتِيَةُ الْمُوَاسِيَةُ إِذَا اتَّقَيْنَ اللَّهَ وَشَرُّ نِسَائِكُمُ الْمُتَبَرِّجَاتُ الْمُتَخَيِّلَاتُ وَهُنَّ الْمُنَافِقَاتُ لَا يَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ مِنْهُنَّ إِلَّا مِثْلُ الْغُرَابِ الْأَعْصَمِ
Abu Udhaynah reported:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The best of your women are loving, fertile, suitable, and comforting, if they fear Allah. The worst of your women unveil their beauty, take pride in their appearance, and they are hypocrites. None of them will enter Paradise except as rarely as you see a red-beaked crow.”
عَنْ عُقْبَةَ بْنِ عَامِرٍ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ إِيَّاكُمْ وَالدُّخُولَ عَلَى النِّسَاءِ فَقَالَ رَجُلٌ مِنَ الأَنْصَارِ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ أَفَرَأَيْتَ الْحَمْوَ قَالَ الْحَمْوُ الْمَوْتُ
Narrated 'Uqba bin 'Amir:
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, “Beware of entering upon women.” A man from the Ansar said, “O Messenger of Allah, what about the husband's male relatives?” The Prophet replied, “The in-law is death.”
عَنْ أُمِّ سَلَمَةَ أَنَّهَا كَانَتْ عِنْدَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَمَيْمُونَةُ قَالَتْ فَبَيْنَا نَحْنُ عِنْدَهُ أَقْبَلَ ابْنُ أُمِّ مَكْتُومٍ فَدَخَلَ عَلَيْهِ وَذَلِكَ بَعْدَ مَا أُمِرْنَا بِالْحِجَابِ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم احْتَجِبَا مِنْهُ فَقُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ أَلَيْسَ هُوَ أَعْمَى لَا يُبْصِرُنَا وَلَا يَعْرِفُنَا فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَفَعَمْيَاوَانِ أَنْتُمَا أَلَسْتُمَا تُبْصِرَانِهِ
Umm Salamah reported:
While we were with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, Ibn Umm Maktum entered after the command to veil. The Prophet said, “Veil yourselves from him.” I said, “O Messenger of Allah, is he not blind? He cannot see or recognize us.” The Prophet said, “Are you two blind such that you cannot see him?”
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم صِنْفَانِ مِنْ أَهْلِ النَّارِ لَمْ أَرَهُمَا قَوْمٌ مَعَهُمْ سِيَاطٌ كَأَذْنَابِ الْبَقَرِ يَضْرِبُونَ بِهَا النَّاسَ وَنِسَاءٌ كَاسِيَاتٌ عَارِيَاتٌ مُمِيلاَتٌ مَائِلاَتٌ رُءُوسُهُنَّ كَأَسْنِمَةِ الْبُخْتِ الْمَائِلَةِ لَا يَدْخُلْنَ الْجَنَّةَ وَلَا يَجِدْنَ رِيحَهَا وَإِنَّ رِيحَهَا لَيُوجَدُ مِنْ مَسِيرَةِ كَذَا وَكَذَا
Abu Huraira reported:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “There are two groups among the people of Hellfire whom I did not see: people with whips like the tails of oxen with which they beat people, and women who are clothed yet naked, inclined and causing others to incline. Their heads will be like the humps of camels. They will not enter Paradise nor smell its fragrance, although its fragrance can be detected from a great distance.”
أَلَا لَا يَخْلُوَنَّ رَجُلٌ بِامْرَأَةٍ إِلَّا كَانَ ثَالِثَهُمَا الشَّيْطَانُ
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “Behold, a man is not alone with a woman except that the third of them is Satan.”
لَأَنْ يُطْعَنَ فِي رَأْسِ أَحَدِكُمْ بِمِخْيَطٍ مِنْ حَدِيدٍ خَيْرٌ لَهُ مِنْ أَنْ يَمَسَّ امْرَأَةً لَا تَحِلُّ لَهُ
Ma'qil ibn Yasar reported:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “For an iron needle to pierce the head of one of you would be better for him than to touch a woman who is not lawful for him.”
عَنْ أَبِي أُسَيْدٍ الأَنْصَارِيِّ أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ وَهُوَ خَارِجٌ مِنَ الْمَسْجِدِ فَاخْتَلَطَ الرِّجَالُ مَعَ النِّسَاءِ فِي الطَّرِيقِ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم لِلنِّسَاءِ اسْتَأْخِرْنَ فَإِنَّهُ لَيْسَ لَكُنَّ أَنْ تَحْقُقْنَ الطَّرِيقَ عَلَيْكُنَّ بِحَافَاتِ الطَّرِيقِ
Abu Usayd al-Ansari reported:
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was leaving the mosque when men and women became mingled in the road. He said to the women, “Draw back, for you should not walk in the middle of the road; keep to the sides of the road.”
عَنْ ابْنِ عُمَرَ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم لَوْ تَرَكْنَا هَذَا الْبَابَ لِلنِّسَاءِ قَالَ نَافِعٌ فَلَمْ يَدْخُلْ مِنْهُ ابْنُ عُمَرَ حَتَّى مَاتَ
Ibn 'Umar reported the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying, “If we left this door for women, it would be better.” Nafi' said that Ibn 'Umar did not enter through that door until his death.
عَنْ أَبِي مُوسَى عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ كُلُّ عَيْنٍ زَانِيَةٌ وَالْمَرْأَةُ إِذَا اسْتَعْطَرَتْ فَمَرَّتْ بِالْمَجْلِسِ فَهِيَ كَذَا وَكَذَا يَعْنِي زَانِيَةً
Narrated Abu Musa:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Every eye commits adultery, and when a woman uses perfume and passes by a gathering, then she is like this and that,” meaning an adulteress.
الْمَرْأَةُ عَوْرَةٌ وَإِنَّهَا إِذَا خَرَجَتِ اسْتَشْرَفَهَا الشَّيْطَانُ وَإِنَّهَا لَتَكُونُ أَقْرَبَ إِلَى اللَّهِ مِنْهَا فِي قَعْرِ بَيْتِهَا
The woman is 'awrah, and when she goes out Satan seeks to tempt through her, and she is never closer to Allah than when she is in the innermost part of her home.
Statements of the Salaf
أقوال السلفHad Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) known what the women were doing, he would have forbidden them from going to the mosque as the women of Bani Israel had been forbidden.
Source: al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 869
Some women are clothed but naked, inclining to evil and seducing with it. They will not enter Paradise, nor smell its fragrance, even though it can be found from a distance of five hundred years of travel.
Source: Mālik ibn Anas, al-Muwaṭṭaʾ 1694
Do you not feel protective jealousy? Are you not ashamed that your women go out into the marketplaces, crowding and brushing shoulders among the men?!
Source: Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, Musnad Aḥmad 1289
Allah has never sent a prophet, nor has a servant grown old in worship, except that Satan hopes to entrap him through the trial of women.
Source: Abū Nuʿaym al-Iṣfahānī, Ḥilyat al-Awliyāʾ 2/163
If you were to be entrusted with a warehouse filled with gold, you might be trusted; but never let yourself be entrusted in privacy with a woman who is not lawful for you, even for a single moment.
Source: Ibn Abī al-Dunyā, al-Waraʿ 86
Do not sit alone with a woman who is not a mahram to you, even if you are reciting the Qur'an to her.
Source: Ibn Abī Shaybah, al-Muṣannaf 19280
Statements of Scholars
أقوال العلماءUnrestricted mixing of men and women is the root cause of widespread immorality, open corruption, and collective afflictions. When men and women mix freely, modesty diminishes, sins multiply, and divine blessing is removed.
Source: Ibn al-Qayyim, al-Ṭuruq al-Ḥukmiyyah fī al-Siyāsah al-Sharʿiyyah 1/281
The Companions and the Salaf strictly adhered to having women depart the mosques first after congregational prayer, before the men stood up, in order to prevent men and women from brushing against each other or mingling upon the exits.
Source: Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī, Fatḥ al-Bārī 5/329