Girl advising her male teacher via e-mail

15/04/2012| IslamWeb

Question

I am a girl who has a non-practising male Muslim teacher. Is it permissible for me to send him religious advice via e-mail without mentioning my name?

Answer

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.
Offering advice to such a teacher is, in principle, required, unless it leads to temptation or corruption. It is a part of encouraging good and forbidding evil. Indeed Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah.} [Quran 3:110] Moreover Tameem Ad-Daari, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated on the authority of the Prophet that religion is An- Naseehah (sincere advice). [Muslim, An-Nasaa’i, Abu Daawood and Ahmad]
However, if this action will lead you to corruption, you are not allowed to do it, because avoiding prohibitions has priority before fulfilling such obligations. Indeed Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated on the authority of the Prophet that he ordered the Companions to avoid whatever he forbade them from and to undertake whatever orders he asked them to observe. [Al-Bukhari, Muslim, An-Nasaa’i, Ibn Maajah and Ahmad]
Furthermore, it is unnecessary to mention your name in the messages. In fact, it would be preferable that you do not mention it.

Allah Knows best.

Fatwa answered by: The Fatwa Center at Islamweb