Aslam

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly:

The scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) are unanimously

agreed that it is haram (impermissible) to be alone with a non-mahram (a

woman whom one is allowed to marry according to Islamic law) woman

(khalwah), because of the saheeh hadeeth (authentic narration): “No man

should be alone with a woman unless there is a mahram (male relative whom

she could never marry) with her.” Narrated by al-Bukhari, 5233; Muslim,

1341.

An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: If a non-mahram

man is alone with a non-mahram woman, with no third person present, this is

haraam according to scholarly consensus.

End quote from Sharh Saheeh Muslim, 9/109

As-San‘ani (may Allah have mercy on him) said: This hadeeth

indicates that it is haram to be alone with a non-mahram woman, and there is

consensus on this point.

End quote from Subul as-Salam. 1/608

Secondly:

There is nothing wrong with a woman allowing a non-mahram man

to enter her husband’s house when he is absent, as long as two conditions

are met:

1.     Her husband should have given her permission to do so.

2.     There should be no khalwah (i.e., she should not be

alone with him); rather there should be a mahram with her such as her father

or brother, or anyone for whom it is permanently forbidden to marry her.

If she does not have a mahram with her, but there is another

woman with her, khalwah may be avoided thereby, but it is not permissible

for a woman to put herself in such a situation unless the woman is

trustworthy and the man who is with them in that place is also trustworthy

and there is no fear that he could overpower the two women.

An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: If a non-mahram

man is alone with a non-mahram woman, without a third person being present

with them, this is haram according to scholarly consensus; this is different

from if a man is with a number of non-mahram women, in which case the

correct view is that it is permissible.

End quote from Sharh Saheeh Muslim, 9/109

As-San‘ani (may Allah have mercy on him) said: It says in the

hadeeth that “the third one present with them is the Shaytan”. Can someone

other than the mahram take his place in that regard, so that there will be

someone with them in order that khalwah will be avoided? It seems to be the

case that he may take his place, because the reason for the prohibition is

the fear that the Shaytan may cause temptation between them.

End quote from Subul as-Salam, 1/608

Based on this, there is nothing wrong with the man allowing a

non-mahram to enter his house, on condition that he is not alone with his

wife and that he is trustworthy. However, the basic principle, and the best

precaution to safeguard religious commitment, is that he should not allow

this unless there is a mahram present.

And Allah knows best.