Question: My daughter MashAllah is very bright and has been given a presitege place in one of the best institutions to study dentisty. However, since she has become more serious in Islam, she does not wants to study any further, rather just sit at home and read islamic books. She is wasting her time at home and not taking up this golden oppurtunity to become as assest for Muslims. Please advice us?


This question needs some thought and understanding the environment we Muslims are living in where no one is safe from free mixing, interaction with non-mahrams (unrelated opposite gender) specially when it is a western country. Hence, the ruling would be different from usual rulings found relating to Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia etc.So, we say that we Muslims are in minority living in western countries, which means that we are forced to deal and live in a manner which sometimes is contrary to Islamic teachings such as free mixing schools, universities etc. Therefore, we need to seek Islamic ruling from those who are living in these countries, have better understanding of our issues, then from those living thousands of miles away from us. There is a difference between seeking

·         male oriented work, where predominantly only males would be working in this field

·         choosing either a pure female oriented work or unisex workThe former would be deemed unlawful due to non-requirement from a Muslim woman to fulfil this position, but for the later it could be either of two cases if it is unisex;  

1.      if the fitnah proves to effect her religion and her morality then she is not allowed to remain in that profession

2.      if there is no fintah, and she can maintain her morals, and can limit the interactions between non-mahrams then due to being in western country, it would be allowed because; a.      The benefits which could be reaped from her gaining this profession would be more for general Muslims. She should realise that the Muslims Ummah is left behind, not only because their ignorance of the Islamic Tenets, but because of their lack of knowledge in the field of science and technology. More and more Muslims are required to acquire this knowledge to bring out this Ummah from the state of disgrace and humiliations in which they are now find themselves.b.      She could open her own practice one day, which means that her interaction with males is not permanent. This is due to her necessity in order to gain recognition and attain professional status and hence free from haram, as there is a well known principal in Fiqh;       

       
i.      A need is permissible according to its duration. Meaning, an act which there is a need to do so, is only allowed up to the extent of the duration of the need, not more.  So, eating pig is allowed because it is a need, and only to the extent when no other meat is present.  We are in need of Muslim lady doctors, especially to treat our women; many of them do not want to expose themselves to male doctors. How could it happen if some of our young ladies do not take this job. Sometimes, to fulfil an obligation, a person might have to break some Islamic etiquette. For example if a woman falls accidentally in a river, a man would be allowed to jump over and save her life. A same rule applies if a person is found in in a dire need for help though his/her life is not threatened. To prepare herself to open her own unisex clinic, she needs to sacrifice in the beginning.    

ii.      The female companions of the prophet would treat wounded men during war. This shows that they knew the art of first aid and utilised it when needed       

iii.      There is no escaping from these scenarios where a Muslim woman would find a pure female based environment, especially; even in Saudi the hospitals have free mixed staff.

Looking at all these aspects, I would encourage the sister to peruse in her career and not to abandon it.