Question:
Assalamu aleikum Mufti
We want to open a small private school…Students Boys and Girls will study in the same classroom… i know that this is not permissible… I live in a Non Islamic State country…the question is will our income be halal?
Answer:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
We commend you for your interest and sensitivity on adopting halal and abstaining from haram.
The students, boys and girls may sit together until the age of around 9 years old. At this age they should be separated, if not in separate classrooms, at least a simple partition may be placed in-between the boys and girls.
At the age of Buloogh (puberty), it will not be permissible for the males and females to sit without separation. The Shari’i commandments of segregation will also apply in a non Islamic country.
Intermingling of genders has been explicitly prohibited in many verses of The Quraan and Ahadith. Allah enjoys on both males and females to restrain their eyes from looking at each other, similarly intermingling will be prohibited
“Enjoin the believing men to lower their gaze and guard their modesty… Likewise enjoin the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their modesty… (Surah An Nur: 30-31)
Further in Surah Al-Ahzab Allah says “…When you ask them (the wives of the Prophet) for anything then ask from behind a screen. This is a means for greater purity for your hearts and their hearts…” (Al-Ahzab: 33)
Ahadith on the prohibition of men and women intermingling are many. Jarir ibn Abdullah narrates that I asked the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) about the sudden glance on the face (of a non-Mahram). He commanded me that I should turn away my eyes. (Muslim, 1015)
Uqba bin Amir narrates that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said, “Beware of entering upon the ladies.” A man from the Ansar said, “Allah’s Apostle! What about the in-laws of the wife?” The Prophet replied, “The in-laws of the wife are death itself.” (Bukhari)
The above verses of the Quran and the Ahadith of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) indicate the importance of observing segregation which will be compulsory for students who have reached the age of puberty.
May Allah use this venture as a means of inculcating Deeni values and the love of Islaam in the hearts of the students.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Arshad Ali
Darul Iftaa, Jaamia Madinatul Uloom (Trinidad)
