Assalamu’alaikum Honorable Mufti
Your advice and counsel in the light of Shariah is urgently requested.
We are a Muslim School and incorporate Sports & Athletics within our academic curriculum like any other school. It forms part of our mission and vision to inculcate Islamic values and ethos and also integrating our teaching with a holistic approach.
Notwithstanding the above, we are faced with a challenge regards annual athletics due to having girls and boys who are already baaligh, allowing parents and family to be part of the spectatorship which creates a high sense of intermingling. Kindly advice as to how we should carry out the athletics associated to logistics of age groups, parent spectatorship, intermingling etc.
1) From which age group do we separate the boys and girls?
2) Is it advised to host parents as spectators?
3) Will it be suitable to have all boys and girls participating in the same event wherein girls will be dressed with loose fitting garments and hair covered in headgear (dressed in Islamic attire)?
i.e. is the dressing questionable or acting physically in front of other strange men or both?
4) If baaligh girls are made to participate only in the presence of females, will it be correct for the baaligh boys to participate in front of all males and females? If so, did the Prophet SAW not exhort his wives to turn their gaze when a blind sahabi entered in his presence?
5) Kindly provide a detailed response with reference to Quraan and the Prophetic tradition.
Your swift response will be highly appreciated as we in the process of planning our annual athletics.
May Allah bless you with His choicest blessings.
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
You refer to a Muslim School with a mission and vision to inculcate Islamic values and ethos.
You enquire about the sports and athletics as part of your academic curriculum.
The essence of your queries revolve around the issue of intermingling of the opposite gender which is expressly prohibited in Shariah.
Consider the following,
Allah Ta’āla says:
قُلْ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ يَغُضُّوا مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِمْ وَيَحْفَظُوا فُرُوجَهُمْ ذَلِكَ أَزْكَى لَهُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا يَصْنَعُونَ (30) وَقُلْ لِلْمُؤْمِنَاتِ يَغْضُضْنَ مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِنَّ وَيَحْفَظْنَ فُرُوجَهُنَّ وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَى جُيُوبِهِنَّ وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ [النور: 30، 31]
Tell the believing men to lower their gazes and guard their private parts. That is purer for them. Indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what they do. And tell the believing women that they must lower their gazes and guard their private parts, and must not expose their adornment.
Allah Ta’āla says in another verse,
يَاأَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُلْ لِأَزْوَاجِكَ وَبَنَاتِكَ وَنِسَاءِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ جَلَابِيبِهِنَّ ذَلِكَ أَدْنَى أَنْ يُعْرَفْنَ فَلَا يُؤْذَيْنَ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا [الأحزاب: 59]
O Prophet, enjoin your wives and your daughters and the believing women, to draw a part of their outer coverings around them. It is likelier that they will be recognised and not mistreated. Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Parent spectatorship should be confined to the gender of the parent and not for all. It is prohibited for a male parent to see an adult female performing at sporting events. Likewise, it prohibited for a female parent to see an adult male performing. While it will be permissible for parents collectively to watch minor children performing, the issue of joint spectatorship of parents will violate the prohibition of intermingling of sexes. 2
We advise the sporting events for boys and girls be completely separate and confine the spectatorship only to the parent of that gender. 3This approach will be in keeping with the mission and vision of the school to inculcate Islamic values and ethos in children
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Huzaifah Deedat
Student Darul Iftaa
Lusaka, Zambia
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
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1 صحيح مسلم- دار إحياء التراث العربي (4/ 2047)
حَدَّثَنَا إِسْحَاقُ بْنُ مَنْصُورٍ، أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو هِشَامٍ الْمَخْزُومِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا وُهَيْبٌ، حَدَّثَنَا سُهَيْلُ بْنُ أَبِي صَالِحٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، قَالَ: «كُتِبَ عَلَى ابْنِ آدَمَ نَصِيبُهُ مِنَ الزِّنَا، مُدْرِكٌ ذَلِكَ لَا مَحَالَةَ، فَالْعَيْنَانِ زِنَاهُمَا النَّظَرُ، وَالْأُذُنَانِ زِنَاهُمَا الِاسْتِمَاعُ، وَاللِّسَانُ زِنَاهُ الْكَلَامُ، وَالْيَدُ زِنَاهَا الْبَطْشُ، وَالرِّجْلُ زِنَاهَا الْخُطَا، وَالْقَلْبُ يَهْوَى وَيَتَمَنَّى، وَيُصَدِّقُ ذَلِكَ الْفَرْجُ وَيُكَذِّبُهُ
2 المبسوط للسرخسي- دار المعرفة (4/ 111)
عليها أن تتحرز عن الفتنة، وفي اختلاطها بالرجال فتنة
النتف في الفتاوى للسغدي- دار الفرقان (2/ 809)
و يكره النظر الي ما لا يحل من غير المحرم إذا خشي علي نفسه، و كذالك المرأة يكره لها ذالك و يكره لها التبرج و أن يطلع من ليس بمحرم علي ما يخفي من الزينة
البحر الرائق شرح كنز الدقائق ومنحة الخالق وتكملة الطوري- دار الكتاب الإسلامي (8/ 218)
لا يجوز النظر إليها لقوله – عليه الصلاة والسلام – «من نظر إلى محاسن امرأة أجنبية عن شهوة صب في عينيه الآنك يوم القيامة
3 سنن الترمذي ت بشار- دار الغرب الإسلامي (3/ 417)
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الأَعْلَى الصَّنْعَانِيُّ، وَغَيْرُ وَاحِدٍ قَالُوا: حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّزَّاقِ، عَنْ مَعْمَرٍ، عَنْ ثَابِتٍ، عَنْ أَنَسٍ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: مَا كَانَ الفُحْشُ فِي شَيْءٍ إِلاَّ شَانَهُ، وَمَا كَانَ الحَيَاءُ فِي شَيْءٍ إِلاَّ زَانَهُ.