ETIQUETTES OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A MALE TEACHER AND HIS FEMALE STUDENTS

Basically, a male teacher should be a teacher for male students, while a female teacher should teach female students; not for any other reason but because of the fitnah that may come as a result of such ‘intermingling’. Yes, the Prophet’s wife – Aa’ishah radiya Allahu anhaa was a teacher to some sahaabah of the Prophet but there are certain principles that must be considered. Besides, the wives of the Prophet were mothers to the believers and also forbidden to be any of them wives.

If there is a need for a man to teach them (females only), either because there is no capable female teacher of the field or because he is good and can teach them the pristine Islam very well, then there is nothing wrong with that so far as attention is paid to the following guidelines:

1-He should teach them from behind a screen. i.e not looking directly into the eyes of the females (especially when they are matured women) and ensure physical touches do not occur.

2-None of them should speak in a soft and romancing voice.

3-They should speak with the teacher only as much as its necessary.

4-The teacher should give up this job if he feels that his heart is inclined towards one of them or he enjoys the sound of the voice of one of them which may lead him to illicit act.

5-The teacher should be elderly, married and known for righteousness and piety, it is evil to entrust female students to the person you have known to have high urges for females; it may be due to nature and not his faults, while not giving up such assignment will be his fault….etc.

It should be noted that the voice of a woman is not ‘awrah according to the more correct of the two scholarly opinions, so long as there is no softness and romances of speech.

All these extracted principles are not for any other reason but to curb what may leads to zina (haram) and temptation.

Shaytaan told Allah:

لَأُزَيِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَأُغْوِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ
“…I will certainly make (evil) fair-seeming to them on earth, and I will certainly cause them all to deviate.”

If we are truly muslims following the footsteps of our righteous predecessors, we should also learn from their ways of relating with women who are not their wives, for one of the fastest ways of bringing down a religious person is the tricks of women, Allah will safe us from the temptation of women if we safe ourselves from it….

28th September, 2019.