I live in the west. I study during the day; this is why I searched for a job to do during the night out of need; as my father does not have the ability to pay for my study. I am the only muslim working in the kitchen of this elderly home. I have to cook pork and pour wine into cups. What is the ruling on my work, bearing in mind that I looked for work in other places but they refused to hire me because I wear hejab?.

general Sign in to save

Question

I live in the west. I study during the day; this is why I searched for a job to do during the night out of need; as my father does not have the ability to pay for my study. I am the only muslim working in the kitchen of this elderly home. I have to cook pork and pour wine into cups. What is the ruling on my work, bearing in mind that I looked for work in other places but they refused to hire me because I wear hejab?.

Answer

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly:

Allaah has prescribed rulings in Islam that are based on

wisdom. The rulings are aimed at setting individuals and societies straight.

The one who goes against these rulings exposes himself to punishment in the

Hereafter and he may be punished in this world before that.

We are not going to discuss the greatness of Allaah’s wisdom

in His laws, rather we have to introduce our answer in this way because of

the sister’s question, asking for the ruling on her studies or her work. She

is living among the kuffaar, in their country, and they are causing trouble

for her because of her religious commitment. How much pressure is this

Muslim woman and many others like her living with? When will fathers and

mothers pay attention and wake up from their heedlessness, and leave those

lands which have caused many to lose their religion and identity? You will

find that there are many wise people who regret paying too much attention to

accumulating money at the expense of their religion and honour.

Secondly:

Staying in kaafir countries is haraam for the one who is

unable to practice his religion openly or who is afraid that he may be led

astray from his religion. See the answers to questions no.

27211,

14235 and

3225.

Thirdly:

Your studying in that country is undoubtedly in a mixed

environment, and there is no doubt that you are seeing sins and immorality

in those places, which pains the heart of the chaste Muslim. If studying in

a Muslim country is in a mixed environment it is not permissible, so how can

it be permissible in a kaafir country?

The scholars of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas

said:

For a woman to study shar’i knowledge and other fields which

a woman needs to know or which will help her to know matters of her religion

is something that is prescribed, so long as it will not result in anything

that is not allowed in sharee’ah. But if it will result in something that is

forbidden in sharee’ah, such as mixing with non-mahram men or not observing

hijab, then it is not permissible, because these are haraam things, and

because that will lead to corruption. End quote.

Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Razzaaq

‘Afeefi, Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez Aal al-Shaykh, Shaykh Saalih al-fawzan,

Shaykh Bakr Abu Zayd

Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah

(12/170, 171).

They also said:

Mixing between men and women in schools and elsewhere is a

great evil and leads to great corruption in religious and worldly terms. It

is not permissible for a woman to study or work in a place where men and

women mix, and it is not permissible for her guardian to allow her to do so.

End quote.

Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz, Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez Aal

al-Shaykh, Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan, Shaykh Bakr Abu Zayd

Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah

(12/156)

Fourthly:

Your working in the seniors’ home is also haraam, because it

involves mixing with men; and because it involves making food using pork,

which Allaah has stated is haraam, and it is also haraam according to the

Sunnah and scholarly consensus; and because it involves serving wine which

is also haraam according to the Qur’aan, Sunnah and scholarly consensus.

The scholars of the Standing Committee said:

It is not permissible for a woman to work with men who are

not her mahrams, because of the evils that result from her presence with

them. She has to seek provision through ways that do not involve anything

haraam. If a person fears Allaah, He will make things easy for him. The

Committee has issued a fatwa concerning that, the text of which is as

follows:

As for the mixing of women with men in factories and offices,

in non-Muslim countries, it is not permissible. But they have something that

is worse than that, which is disbelief in Allaah, so it is no surprise that

such evils occur among them. As for women mixing with men in Muslim

countries, at the time when they are Muslim, that is also haraam. The

authorities in the places where this mixing occurs must take steps to put

the women in one place and the men in another, because of the moral

corruption that results from mixing, as is obvious to anyone who has the

slightest insight. End quote.

Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Razzaaq

‘Afeefi, Shaykh ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Ghadyaan, Shaykh ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Qa’ood

Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah

(12/232, 233)

For more information on women’s work and the conditions of it

being permissible, please see the answer to question no.

22397.

In the answer to question no.

666 you will find important advice to

do with women working in mixed environments.