I have been asked by many unbelievers why women do not give religious speeches in front of men and women.

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

Women are asked by the Sharee'ah to participate actively in teaching, calling to Islam and reforming for the good as well as they can. Indeed, the woman is like the man and is responsible for what she does with her knowledge. She is asked to write and to criticize, and men can read her books, if they want to.

Thus, during the flourishing Islamic era which was the era of virtue, morality, chastity and abatement of the causes of temptations and seduction, women used to teach from behind a screen narrating Hadeeth and explaining different issues. Women even used to compete with men in the search for knowledge but with the good conduct and morality of Islam. Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri narrated that “A woman came to the Prophet and said, “O Allah's Apostle! Men (only) benefit by your teachings, so please devote to us from (some of) your time, a day on which we may come to you so that you may teach us of what Allah has taught you.” The Prophet said: “Gather on such-and-such a day at such-and-such a place.” They gathered and the Prophet came to them and taught them of what Allah had taught him.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

So, women didn't ask to compete with men during the sessions; they rather wanted a special session for themselves. Despite the great number of knowledgeable and learned women throughout history, only a few of them had councils where they used to teach men from behind a screen.

On the other hand, women used to attend the knowledge sessions presented by men, but they would stay modest and chaste, they would sit in a place from which they could hear the knowledge and yet not get mixed with men. This has been the path of Muslims. Nowadays, with the increasing number of Muslims emigrating to non-Muslim countries, it has become necessary for Muslims to gather in the mosque and Islamic centers that exist in the host countries to protect themselves and their children, as well as to learn the Islamic Sharee'ah and to call to Islam.

Thus, a woman should have a key role in such activities, but how?

What we think is the right opinion in such circumstances is for a woman to participate in all such activities, but with her sisters as this will satisfy her ambition to participate and will preserve her from losing some of the Islamic characteristics relative to her. We think that she should not get involved with non-Mahram men in any way whatsoever, for the following reasons:

1 - Women are required to veil themselves and not to talk to non-Mahram men except for a sound reason and without elaborateness. During the lectures there is enough to break this barrier as they usually require lengthy explanations and verbal exchanges.

2 - It is almost impossible to find any mosque or Islamic center where the number of learned men in the Sharee'ah is not as many times as that of learned women in the same field. It is more appropriate then to activate the men's role and to leave women in places that are more appropriate to their very nature. But if there is not a sufficient number of learned men in a place, then it is very possible to bring them from other places; this practice is widespread and very useful.

Opening this door; i.e., women delivering lectures to men, even with full reservations, will cause so much harm in the future that we could not imagine.

Moreover, this could become a bad example for others. Probably you may bear a portion of its sin. Therefore we believe that avoiding this practice is better to close the harmful ways that could be opened by it, to follow the Sunnah in teaching Islam and calling for it, and to protect the dignity of women so as not to put them in embarrassing situations.

Therefore, many Sharee'ah constraints confirm that avoiding this practice ensures so many advantages that one should cling to and ignore any suspected benefits from other practices because they are few compared to the harm they can cause.

The following evidence supports this point:

Raising the voice for Talbiyah (a kind of Thikr recited by pilgrims) in Hajj and ‘Umrah is demanded in the Sharee'ah, but women are excluded from this rule, just as they are also excluded from raising their voices in prayer and in calling for the prayer (i.e. making Athaan). Although raising the voice during these two rituals [Hajj and ‘Umrah] is a pillar, women are exempted from it, because them raising their voices could cause more harm than benefit. Allah Says (what means): {Does He who created not know, while He is the Subtle, the Acquainted?} [Quran 67:14]

In short, the disadvantages of women delivering lectures to men are greater than the advantages. The Muslim scholars are agreed that avoiding disadvantages is preferable than getting advantages if there is a conflict between the two.

For more benefit that a woman's voice is not an 'Awrah, please refer to Fataawa 263791, 82218, and 83899.

Allah knows best.