Sayyidina Umar (Allah be pleased with him) related that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:

"Not one of you should meet a woman alone unless she is accompanied by a relative (mahram)"

(Bukhari/Muslim)

The regulations related to male-female interaction are essential to the very soundness of human civilization. If ignored, they threaten its very survival.

Islam is not just a true religion but also a social order that enables individuals to attain the cherished goal of material happiness and welfare in the world and to prepare them for the next world through righteousness and virtuous deeds.

Islam removes the possible causes which may breed corruption. It strikes hard at the root of evil and suggests measures which may bring about peaceful, happy and harmonious relations among the Muslims.

It discourages free and unbridled contact between men and women in order to check the consequences of undesirable impulses. It puts restraint to such impelling forces which might play a disastrous role in degenerating the mind of young men and women.

Be cautious that when you commit a sin, never ever should you blame it on the decree (qadar) of Allah which causes you to sin, and say that it all happens because it was written as such for yourself, in which you have no control over it. The above-mentioned is considered an invalid excuse that would not benefit you. On the contrary, such an action could endanger yourself and causes you to distant yourself from Allah Most High, that the effect would be you being condemned by Allah and being distant from His mercy.

Affirm that believing in the decree, the good of it or bad of it, is obligatory upon the basis of belief (aqidah) and protesting toward Allah Most High is not permissible. In actual fact, it is considered among acts that greatly endangers oneself and a major sin. As long as man could choose within his control, then there is no basis for him to abandon any of the commands of Allah or to commit any of that which He prohibited. Thus, it is obsolete to say: O, this has already been decreed by God to happen unto me! Or, this has already been written upon me! In fact, from which source is it that he knows all that?!

Sayyidinā Alī Ibn Abī Tālib—may Allāh exalt his face—said:Your cure is within you, but you do not know,Your illness is from you, but you do not see.You are the “Clarifying Book”Through whose letters becomes manifest the hidden.You suppose that you’re a small bodyBut the greatest world unfolds within you.You would not need what is outside [...]

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On the way to work, they should walk with gentleness and firmness. This is in accord with Divine Speech, The servants of the compassionate One walk gently over the earth and, if ignorant people address them, they say 'be at peace.' (25:63) This is true not only in regard to walking, but also in regard to every single action. Everything you do should be accompanied by the feeling of equipoise and be firmly grounded.

In the workplace, they should recall the names and qualities of God. It is reported that the Prophet said, “The one who recalls to mind God in the midst of negligent people is like a warrior from among those who defend faith. The one who recalls to mind God in the market-place is like a living one among the dead.” Among the Prophet Muhammad's early followers was a man who used to mount his donkey and come to the market-place. There he would engage in recalling God's names and qualities, after which he would return home. He would go to the market only to do this, with no other errand! While working, they should let nothing distract them, neither working nor trading, from rising to prayer at the appointed times in a congregation. If they miss prayer-times out of preoccupation, they incite the wrath of their Lord. In addition, their profits will be empty of blessing (baraka). Shouldn't they be ashamed to let the true One see them preoccupied by gaining for themselves while ignoring the rights their Lord holds over them? One of our prior ancestors was carrying out his craft. He had just lifted his hammer fall over his head when he heard the call to prayer. He let the hammer fall behind him without completing his intended blow, lest he be found working once the call to obey his Lord had resounded. (This story is told of Abu Hafs al-Haddad) Upon hearing the call to prayer, one should recall the moments of Divine Speech: O our people! Answer the one who calls you to God, (46:31) and O you who believe, answer God and God's prophet when he calls you to what revives you, (8:24) and Answer your Lord. (42:47) 'A'isha has reported, “The Prophet used to stay in his room, resoling shoes or instructing those who served him. But when the call to prayer rang out, he would rise up as if he didn't recognize any of us.”

It is offensive for a male to speak without need to a young woman who is not a member of his unmarriageable kin. He should not say “Arhamkum Allah” (Allah have mercy on you) if she sneezes, greet her with “as-Salamu 'alaykum” (which is unlawful in the Shafi'i school) nor return her Salams if she says them (which is offensive for Shafi'is). He should not say these aloud, but to himself, all of which likewise holds for a young woman's speaking to a man who is not a member of her unmarriageable kin. The prohibition of these is due to the Prophet's having said (Allah bless him and give him peace),

“The adultery of the tongue is speech.”

- Ahmad Ibn Lulu Ibn Al-Naqib, translated by Noah Ha Mim Keller; Umdat Al-Salik (Reliance of the Traveller)

There are several things that working people need to do. Every morning when leaving the home for work, they should make a firm vow with God. They should resolve to forgive anyone who misbehaves with them along the day's route, for the marketplace is the realm of dispute and lawsuit. For this reason, the Prophet has said, “Who among you is unable to act just like Abu Damdam? Every day upon leaving his house he would say, 'Dear God, for my charity I give offering of turning away from whatever other Muslims do against me.” Before leaving home, the working person should make ablutions and pray, asking God to keep him or her safe and sound upon leaving. For nobody knows what is going to happen to you when you step outside. Going to the marketplace is like going to the battlefield. The believer should wear the armor of seeking protection with and trusting that God alone can ward off the shots of enemies. Whoever turns to God for protection, God guides to a straight and level path. And also, Whoever entrusts to God every concern, God is their reward.

As they leave home, working people should place their families, their homes and all their belongings in the care of God. They are not capable of preserving all they leave behind from harm. Let them remember Divine Speech: For God is the best preserver, and God is the most compassionate of those who care. Let them remember the Prophet's petition, “O God, you are the companion during travels and the care-taker of the family, children and property left behind.” If working people place all this in the care of God, then there is hope that when they return they will find everything in order as they expect and desire. Once a Sufi went on a trip and left his wife when she was pregnant. As he was setting out, he said, 'O God, in your care I place that which is in her womb.' During his absence, his wife died. When he returned, he inquired about his wife, and was told that she died while giving birth. That night, he perceived a light glowing in the graveyard and went outside to follow it. He found that the light was emanating from his wife's grave. In it, he saw her with a little child suckling at her breast. A voice called to him, “You placed the child in her womb in Our care, so now you have got it. Had you placed them both in Our care, you might have gotten them both together!”

In addition to the fact that they are usurious (riba'), buying and selling insurance policies are unlawful because of the Prophet's prohibition (Allah bless him and give him peace) of sales in which there is chance or risk (gharar). Muslim relates from Abu Hurayra that

“The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) prohibited sales of 'whatever a pebble thrown by the seller hits,' and sales in which there is chance or risk (gharar).”

(Nasir al-Mutarrizi wrote in al-Mughrib fi tartib al-Mu'rib:) Gharar is chance or risk, meaning it is not known whether it will come to be or not, such as selling fish in the water or birds on the wing. It includes transactions of unknown things, the particulars of which are not fully comprehended by the buyer and seller.

Urging the permissibility of insurance, one Muslim modernist has written that the very precise statistical data possessed by insurance companies concerning the probabilities of various eventualities makes what they are selling determinately known (ma'lum). This argument fails when one realizes that statistical data from a group of events yields probability figures that, properly speaking, are a description of the group as a whole, and are only analogically applied to the individual events within it. When generalized to similar groups of events in the future, such probabilities yield commercially useful knowledge about the likelihood of a particular outcome for these future groups. But they cannot and do not tell what the outcome will be for any particular member of the group, in this case the particular insurance policy. Thus, a “17 percent probability” that circumstances will enable one to collect such and such an amount on a policy is a mere description of the whole group of previous policy holders in similar circumstances, which does not tell whether one will collect the amount or not. One may collect a certain amount or may not collect it, which is precisely the gharar that is unlawful.

The Holy Prophet continues his account:

"When I reached the Divine Throne, I wished to remove my sandals, but the Throne spoke to me and said, 'Oh Beloved of Allah, step upon me with your blessed sandal, so that I might rub the dust from it on my face, and take pride in the fact that the dust from the Beloved of Allah has fallen upon me.'

Again I tried to remove my sandals, but this time a call came to me from the Divine Person, saying, 'Oh My Beloved, do not remove your sandals so that My Throne might be honoured and blessed with the dust from the soles of your sandals'. I then entreated my Lord, saying, 'When You called the Prophet Musa to come to the mountain of Tur (Sina'i), You ordered him to remove his sandals.' Again this word came to me from the Divine Person, saying, 'In My view, you are more cherished and honoured than he; Musa was My Word (Kalimullah), whereas you are My Beloved (Habibullah). Look ahead and see what you will see!'

(Imam Nawawi wrote in al-Majmu':) Allah Most High says:

1. “Say, 'Are those who know and those who do not know equal?'” (39:9),

2. “Only the knowledgeable of His slaves fear Allah” (35:28),

3. “Allah raises those of you who believe and those who have been given knowledge whole degrees” (58:11)

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:

1. “Whoever Allah wishes well, He gives knowledge of religion.”

2. “The superiority of the learned Muslim over the devotee is as my superiority over the least of you.”

Then the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said,

“Allah and His angels, the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth, the very ant in its anthill and the fish bless those who teach people what is good.”

1. “When a human being dies his work come to an end except for three things: ongoing charity, knowledge benefitted from, or a pious son who prays for him.”