Question:
If all the brothers are living in one house with their wives, do they have to observe full Hijaab or can they be more lenient? Please explain what to do in this situation.
Answer:
When a few brothers live together in one house together with their wives and the house is not large enough to provide each family with a separate kitchen, bathroom and passage or corridor and all of them have to share these facilities, in this situation if the women cover their entire bodies and hair with the exception of their faces and hands and wear loose fitting clothes, this concession will be a given to a number of families living in one household. It will be necessary for the men folk not to direct their gazes at the women other than their wives and Mahrams. In the house the non Mahrams men and women should not have any casual and unnecessary chats and dealings with one another. [Fataawaa Rashidiyyah, pg578]
May Allah Ta’ala keep you steadfast. Ameen.
And Allah Ta’ala knows best
Mufti Muhammad Ashraf
Darul Iftaa
Jameah Mahmoodiyah
Springs
15 February 2007
26 Muharram 1428