Interacting with female colleagues at work

18-1-2017 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalaamu alaykum. In my office, female colleagues regularly manipulate and sometimes order male colleagues to do favors for them, like bringing them water and snacks from the shop, do photocopies for them, and so on. It really embarrasses me to see men running errands for these women. If the females ask me to do the same and I say no out of self-respect, will I be sinful? Or should I perform such favors to women sometimes as a way of helping them? do I have the option to choose?

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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, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger. 

You are not obliged to fulfill the request of these women; there is no harm in refusing to meet it. You have the choice to fulfill or reject their requests. In fact, fulfilling such requests may lead to falling into Fitnah (temptation) because you would talk with them. Rather, it is incumbent on you to avoid intermixing with these women so as to protect yourself from the cunning schemes of Satan; Allah, The Exalted, says (what means): {O you who have believed, do not follow the footsteps of Satan. And whoever follows the footsteps of Satan - indeed, he enjoins immorality and wrongdoing. And if not for the favor of Allah upon you and His mercy, not one of you would have been pure, ever, but Allah purifies whom He wills, and Allah is Hearing and Knowing.} [Quran 24:21]

We would like to emphasize the danger of laxness in interactions between men and non-Mahram (marriageable) women as well as the importance of observing the relevant religious obligations such as avoiding prohibited intermixing, staying with the opposite sex in private, and the like of the prohibited actions that may lead to Fitnah and immorality. For more information, please, refer to fatwas 83953 and 140070.

Allah knows best.