Giving correct scholarly opinions to both Muslims and non-Muslims: Can Muslim women play sports infront of non-mahrem men?

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Can Muslim women play sports infront of non-mahrem men?

I submitted this question to Sheikh Ahmed Kutty. While he didn't exactly reply back in a way I wanted, it can be concluded that Muslim women, provided they wear there hijab and clothing that covers the arms and legs, can indeed play sports infront of non-Mahrem men.

At schools some Muslim girls join teams like basketball and volleyball but they do so while wearing the hijab and covering the legs and arms. At these games many non-Mahrem men will watch but I don't think they can get turned on by the hijab wearing girl as opposed to the other girls who wear tight short revealing clothes. Is it okay for the girl to play because many sites like Islam QA say it is completely forbidden for even a hijab wearing woman to play infront of non-Mahrem men.

Prayer is the most important duty we owe to Allah, our Creator and Sustainer, which we must practice at all times and places. As such, no Muslim, whether male or female, can be slack in performing it. The Prophet (peace be upon him) was asked, "what is the action that is most pleasing to Allah," he replied, "to pray at the appointed time."
Therefore, no one should be neglecting his or her prayer even if others are watching. If we were to say that Muslim women are not allowed to pray while non-mahram men are seeing them, then by the same logic, they cannot pray in the holy sanctuaries of Makkah and Madinah since women are always visible and seen by men. The same logic could be applied to men praying while women are watching. Aren't women attracted to men as well? Didn't Allah order both men and women to lower their gazes when facing each other? So, the same rule should apply to both.
We also know from the authentic traditions that there was no partition in the Prophet's mosque and therefore, men and women were praying in the same hall, and they were visible to each other. If it had been wrong for women to pray in the presence of men, then the Prophet (peace be upon him) would have said so clearly. Since he didn't, the original rule of permission remains.
In conclusion, the Muslim women cannot neglect their obligatory prayers under the pretext that they are being seen by non-mahram men.

http://askthescholar.com/question-details.aspx?qstID=11553

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The purpose of this blog is to give accurate and fair fatwas from notable scholars on the religion of Islam.

What's a fatwa?

A fatwa is an opinion or ruling by one who is knowledgeable about Islamic ethics. Usually these people are Imam's, Mufti's, or anyone who has done deep studies of Islam.

Why should we follow scholars?

The Prophet Muhammed (peace be upin him) said:

“Scholars are the inheritors of the prophets.”

A Quran verse is said to coincide with this hadith:

“Then We gave the Scripture as inheritance unto those whom We elected of Our servants.” [Qur'an, 35.32]

Another hadith states:

”The superiority of a scholar (alim) over the devout (abid) is like my superiority over a worshipper or like that of the moon in the night when it is full over the rest of the stars, and truly the scholars arc the heirs of the Prophets, and truly the Prophets do not leave behind them gold or silver, they only leave knowledge as their heritage. So whosoever acquires knowledge acquires a huge fortune.” (Transmitted by Ahmad, Abu Dawud and al Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah.)

We pick and choose the most relevant opinions on major issues that many Muslims have either doubts or questions on.

The thing is there's many sites that give fatwas, but many of them are too extreme, flat out stupid or just wrong, all of whom contradict Islamic teachings. It's gets real tiring hearing about what some ulema (body of scholars) say about women, non-Muslims, and harmless customs. They judge, accuse and somtimes even degrade others. These people are suppose to guide us and help us, yet they're doing the opposite. Islam tells us only God and his Prophet (peace be upon him) can declrare what is haraam (forbidden), however these 'scholars' will find out ways to try and make whatever they want as haraam.
These are also feeders to anti-Islamic material. It makes us look even more worse than we're portrayed.

Another thing, there's many liberal and secular sites that are giving their own rulings, and they lack some of the basic Islamic education, most of which are found in kid's books. They are also doing significant damage to the ummah (worldwide Muslim community).

Our goal is to set things straight and educate both Muslims and non-Muslims about Islam. All of the postings on this blog are to-the-point As well, these posts are for our own benefit, so we can refer back to them when we need to.

The rulings and opinions from scholars on this blog are mostly selected from the following popular sites:

http://www.askthescholar.com/ (run by Sheikh Ahmed Kutty, labeled as one of the top 100 Muslims worldwide).
http://www.onislam.net/ (formerly IslamOnline, one of the most visited Islamic websites in the world).
http://www.muslimvillage.com/
http://www.askamufti.com/
http://en.islamtoday.net/
http://www.canadiancouncilofimams.com/
http://fiqhcouncil.org/
http://www.ali-gomaa.com/ (Grand Mufti of Egypt)
http://www.dar-alifta.org/ (headed by the Grand Mufti of Egypt, advises the Egyptian government on matters)

We are thankful to God that we have found these sites, as they are the only ones (as of now) who post relevant and reliable material. And we hope inshallah (God willing) other Muslims can benefit from them as well)

We also pick out videos from sites like Youtube that feature scholars giving lectures, or their opinions on certain matters.

WE NEVER ISSUE OUR OWN FATWAS, EVER. We have studied Islam and know it well enough to know what's in our religion and what isn't. We can tell what's a good fatwa and what isn't. This is just a heads up because we don't want to recieve emails critisizing us about our selection of fatwas. All the scholars featured on this blog are well known and respected. They aren't random people wanting to misguide the ummah.