Mixed-Gender Education in Islam
Islamic sharia prohibits gender mixing and emphasizes it, as God Almighty said: “Settle in your homes, and do not display yourselves as
women did in the days of ˹pre-Islamic˺ ignorance” (Al-Ahzab
33: 33).
And He said: “O Prophet! Ask your wives, daughters, and believing
women to draw their cloaks over their bodies. In this way it is more likely
that they will be recognized ˹as virtuous˺ and not be harassed. And Allah is
All-Forgiving, Most Merciful”(Al-Ahzab 33:
59).
And He, Glory
be to Him, said: “And tell the believing women
to lower their gaze and guard their chastity, and not to reveal their
adornments except what normally appears. Let them draw their veils
over their chests, and not reveal their ˹hidden˺ adornments3 except
to their husbands, their fathers, their fathers-in-law, their sons, their
stepsons, their brothers, their brothers’ sons or sisters’ sons, their fellow
women, those ˹bondwomen˺ in their possession, male attendants
with no desire, or children who are still unaware of women’s
nakedness. Let them not stomp their feet, drawing attention to their hidden
adornments. Turn to Allah in repentance all together, O believers,
so that you may be successful” (An-Nur 24:
31).
And He said: “And when you ˹believers˺ ask his wives for something, ask them
from behind a barrier. This is purer for your hearts and theirs.” (Al-Ahzab 33: 53).
In these noble
verses, there is clear evidence for the legitimacy of women remaining in their
homes to avoid being a source of temptation (Fitnah), except for a necessity
that requires them to go out. Furthermore, He, Glory be to Him, warned them
against displaying their beauty in the manner of the Jahiliyyah (pre-Islamic
ignorance), which means showing their charms and fascinations among men.
Prophetic Warnings About Fitnah
It has been
authentically reported from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) that he
said: “I
have not left after me a fitnah (temptation/trial) more harmful to men than
women.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim). Muslim narrated it in his
Sahih from Usama and Sa'id bin Zaid bin Amr bin Nufail (may Allah be pleased
with them both). Also, in Sahih Muslim, from Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri (may Allah be
pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace be upon him) that he said: 'The world is
sweet and green, and Allah is making you successors therein, to see how you
act. So fear the world and fear women, for the first fitnah of the Children of
Israel was regarding women.'
The Messenger
of Allah (peace be upon him) spoke the truth, for the temptation caused by them
is immense, especially in this era in which most of them have cast off the
veil, displayed their adornment in the manner of the Jahiliyyah, and because of
that, immoralities and evils have increased, along with the reluctance of many
young men and women towards the marriage ordained by Allah in many countries.
Allah, Glory be to Him, has clarified that the veil is purer for the hearts of
all, which proves that removing it is closer to the impurity of the hearts of
all and their deviation from the path of truth.
Gender Mixing in Education
It is
well-known that a female student sitting with a male student in a study chair
is one of the greatest causes of temptation, and among the reasons for
abandoning the veil which Allah ordained for believing women and forbade them
from displaying their adornment to anyone other than those whom Allah, Glory be
to Him, specified in the aforementioned verse from Surah An-Nur.
Obligation of Hijab
Whoever claims
that the command for the veil is special to the Mothers of the Believers [the
Prophet's wives] has strayed far from the correct path, contradicted the
numerous evidences indicating generalization, and contradicted His saying,
Glory be to Him: “This is purer for your hearts
and theirs”(Al-Ahzab 33: 53). It is not permissible to say
that the veil is purer for the hearts of the Mothers of the Believers and the
men of the Companions without those who came after them. Undoubtedly, those who
came after them are more in need of the veil than the Mothers of the Believers
and the men of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), due to the vast
difference between them in the strength of faith and insight into the truth.
For the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), men and women alike,
including the Mothers of the Believers, are the best of people after the
Prophets, and the best of generations, by the testimony of the Messenger (peace
be upon him) recorded in the two Sahihs [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]. If the veil
was purer for their hearts, then those after them are more in need of this
purity and more desperately in need of it than those before them. Furthermore,
the texts in the Book and the Sunnah cannot be specified for anyone in the
Ummah except by an authentic proof indicating that specification. Therefore,
they are general for the entire Ummah during his time (peace be upon him) and
after him until the Day of Resurrection, because He, Glory be to Him, sent His
Messenger (peace be upon him) to both humans and jinn in his time and after him
until the Day of Resurrection, as He, the Almighty, said: “Say, [O Muhammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the
Messenger of Allah to you all"“(Al-A'raf 7: 158). And
He, Glory be to Him, said: “And We have not sent
you except comprehensively to mankind as a bringer of good tidings and a warner”(Saba
34: 28). Similarly, the Noble Qur'an was not revealed only for the people
of the Prophet's time (peace be upon him); rather, it was revealed for them and
for those after them to whom the Book of Allah reaches, as He said: “This [Qur'an] is notification for the people and that
they may be warned thereby and that they may know that He is but one God and
that those of understanding may be reminded”(Ibrahim 14: 52).
And He, the Almighty, said: “And this Qur'an was
revealed to me that I may warn you thereby and whomever it reaches”(Al-An'am
6: 19).
Gender Mixing During the Prophetic Era
In the time of
the Prophet (peace be upon him), women did not mix with men in the mosques nor
in the markets in the manner of mixing that reformers forbid today, and which
the Qur'an, the Sunnah, and the scholars of the Ummah warn against to avoid
temptation. Rather, women in his mosque (peace be upon him) used to pray behind
the men in rows located behind the men. He (peace be upon him) used to say: 'The best of
the men's rows are the first and the worst are the last, and the best of the
women's rows are the last and the worst are the first,' to
avoid the temptation of the last rows of men by the first rows of women. Men in
his time (peace be upon him) were commanded to delay leaving until the women
had passed and left the mosque, so that men would not mix with them at the
doors of the mosques, despite the high level of faith and piety they all
possessed, both men and women. So, what of the condition of those who came
after them?! Women were forbidden from walking in the middle of the road and
were ordered to stick to the sides of the road, to avoid friction with men and
the temptation of physical contact when walking in the street.
Allah, Glory be
to Him, commanded the believing women to draw their cloaks over themselves to
cover their adornment to avoid temptation, and He, Glory be to Him, forbade
them from displaying their adornment to anyone other than those whom Allah,
Glory be to Him, named in His Great Book, to cut off the causes of temptation,
and to encourage the causes of chastity and distance from the manifestations of
corruption and mixing.
Read Also:
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Fatima Al-Fihri: Empowering Women Through Education in Islam
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