Gender Interaction on Campus 2

4. It is well known that both of these women were eligible for marriage with Prophet Mosa. In fact, we know that later he married one of them. Thus, these verses are used to prove that interaction between non-marhams is permitted as long as they observe certain adab which will be explained shortly, inshallah.5. Inter-gender interaction is an exception, not the rule. Meaning that such interaction should take place only under situations which are clearnecessities. The proof is the statement, “Our father is a very old man.” Meaning that Musa (peace be upon him) saw them under severe duress and spoke to them in an effort to remove their hardship, and their response was based on the necessity of getting water to drink. Thus, it can be said, that the call to Islam and its propagation fall under such a necessity however, such work must be done observing the following adab.a. Remember that any encounter involves the eyes, tongue and limbs. However, the most important component for this encounter is the heart. Thus, before any gathering check your heart and make sure that it is with Allah Most High, full of love for Him and in submission to the sunna of the Prophet (may peace andblessings be upon him). A great du’a to say before such a gathering is the following supplication of the Prophet(may peace and blessings be upon him):اللهم مقلب القلوب ثبّت قلبي على دينكAllahumma muqallibul Qulub thabit qalbi ‘ala deenek.“O turner of the hearts! Establish my heart upon Your religion.”b. After one’s heart has submitted and his whims have been crushed, it is logical the rest of his body will follow and this would entail:· Lowering the gaze as everything has an entrance and one of the entrances to the heart is the glance.· Avoid speech or actions which could be taken as flirting. I was told by one of my sheikhs that laughing and joking should be avoided between non-mahram couples. For that reason Allah described the daughter of Shu’ayb, when she approached Mosa, “Then there came to him one of the two women, walking shyly.”· Avoid being alone as Shaytan will be the third amongst you. Try your best to meet as a group as private meetings amongst a brother and sister who are non-mahram are strictly prohibited. In addition, during group meetings there should be a good amount of distance between brothers and sisters.· Observe the correct Islamic dress code and remember to ask yourself an important question. “Am I makingdawa to myself, or to Allah and the call of His beloved (may peace and blessings be upon him)?”· There is no better solution than asking. Thus, it is important to refer any specific questions or issues to local scholars as they are your life source for survival in the campus jungle.I ask Allah to bless our questioner, plant her feet firm upon his obedience and make her a great caller to Allah (may peace and blessings be upon him). I would like to express my gratitude to two of my early Sheikhs, Abu Mustafa of Senegal and Shaykh Abdul Jalil of San-Diego. Most of my humble attempt at an answer came from the questions I asked them while in my university days. May Allah bless them and continue to use them as a source of benefit to the shabab in the West.In need of your prayers and happy Eid,Suhaib D. WebbSource: Sunnipath.com——————————————————————————–[1]Qur’an 9/71[2]Tafsir Al-Tabari, surah 9/71[3]For and excellent Arabic reference on this refer to Sh. Faisal Malwais Darul Mara Fe Al-A’mal Al-Islamiy.”[4]Qur’ana 28/22-25[5]Reported by At-Tirmizi, Ibn Hibban and Al-Hakim graded it Sahih[6]Al-Shawqiyat pg. 193