Free mixing with non-mahrams

Q: I am a girl and two of my girl cousins recently got married and their husbands mix freely with them in playing some games such as cards or monopoly for example. They always force me to play with them and I try not to play with them anymore.

I heard that free mixing is haraam and I tried to tell them but they mocked me and said that we are just playing cards and we are not sitting near each other, there's a distance.

I wanted to ask what should I do? Am I sinful for playing with them because their husband's aren't my mahram although we keep distance? How can I convince them if it is haraam?

A: Shariah has commanded that pardah be observed between all non mahram males and females. Hence, this type of free mixing is not permissible. This leads to a lot of fitnah and sin and thereafter brings a host of wrongs in its wake. Make taubah for sitting in such a company and ensure that you refrain in the future. You should try to explain to them that this is wrong and this can be the means of earning the wrath of Allah Ta'ala. Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said, “May the curse of Allah Ta’ala be upon the man who casts lustful glances at the beauty of a woman, as well as the woman who is viewed (the woman who reveals her beauty, allowing strange men to view her)”.

And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.

 

Answered by:

Mufti Zakaria Makada

Checked & Approved:

Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)