Sharīʿah Ruling on Greeting a Non-Mahram Woman
Question:
I am a university student, and sometimes I greet young female students. Is it permissible for a male student to greet his female classmate in a college or university setting?
Answer:
Firstly:
It is not permissible for male and female students to sit together in the same place, classroom, or seat for studies, as this is among the major causes of fitnah. Therefore, such free mixing and close interaction between male and female students is not allowed for either of them.
As for greeting (salām), if a male student greets a female student with a proper Islamic salutation free from any element of fitnah, there is no harm in it. Similarly, a female student greeting a male student from a distance — without shaking hands and while observing ḥijāb, avoiding fitnah, and without being in seclusion — is also permissible. Shaking hands with a non-mahram is not allowed.
However, if the greeting — whether from the man to the woman or the woman to the man — is done with lust, flirtation, or with the intention of engaging in any act prohibited by Allāh, then such a greeting is Islamically prohibited.
Wa billāhi al-tawfīq
(Fatwā by: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Bāz رحمه الله)
Question:
I am a university student, and sometimes I greet young female students. Is it permissible for a male student to greet his female classmate in a college or university setting?
Answer:
Firstly:
It is not permissible for male and female students to sit together in the same place, classroom, or seat for studies, as this is among the major causes of fitnah. Therefore, such free mixing and close interaction between male and female students is not allowed for either of them.
As for greeting (salām), if a male student greets a female student with a proper Islamic salutation free from any element of fitnah, there is no harm in it. Similarly, a female student greeting a male student from a distance — without shaking hands and while observing ḥijāb, avoiding fitnah, and without being in seclusion — is also permissible. Shaking hands with a non-mahram is not allowed.
However, if the greeting — whether from the man to the woman or the woman to the man — is done with lust, flirtation, or with the intention of engaging in any act prohibited by Allāh, then such a greeting is Islamically prohibited.
Wa billāhi al-tawfīq
(Fatwā by: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Bāz رحمه الله)
