❖ Source:
This fatwa is derived from the book “500 Questions & Answers for Women”, based on the verdicts of the Scholars of the Ḥaramayn, translated by Ḥāfiẓ ʿAbdullāh Salīm.
✿ Question:
What is the ruling regarding women appearing before male domestic workers and drivers? Do they hold the same ruling as other non-maḥram (unrelated) men? My mother asks me to merely cover my head with a scarf in front of them—does such practice conform to the rulings of our dīn al-Ḥanīf (the pure religion), which commands us to adhere to Allah’s laws?
✿ Answer:
Male household workers and drivers, if they are non-maḥram, are considered like any other unrelated men. Therefore, it is obligatory to observe ḥijāb from them. It is not permissible for a woman to appear before them unveiled, nor to be in seclusion (khalwah) with them.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
«لا يخلون رجل بامرأة إلا كان الشيطان ثالثهما»
“No man is alone with a woman except that the third among them is Shayṭān.”
[Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī, Book of Breastfeeding, Chapter 16]
Moreover, the evidences that mandate veiling from non-maḥram men and prohibit unveiling are general and comprehensive in their application.
Obeying one's mother—or anyone else—is not permissible if it leads to disobedience of Allah. Therefore, one must prioritize divine commands over the preferences or demands of others, even parents.
[Shaykh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn Bāz رحمه الله](Former Grand Muftī of Saudi Arabia)
