Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad
Question:
I run an all-female organization with Muslims and non-Muslims. We communicate via zoom. I have recently come across the opinion that Muslim women cannot uncover hijab in front of disbelieving women. If that’s the case, am I supposed to deny non-Muslim women applicants since not all my Muslim employees observe hijab? In the zoom calls, the Muslim ladies typically only show their face, hair, and their shoulders. Please advise me on what to do.
Answer:
Assalamu alaykum,
Thank you for your question.
It is permissible in the Shafi’i school for a Muslim woman to remove her hijab in front of non-Muslim women. See the details here:
https://islamqa.org/shafii/qibla-shafii/33634/women-covering-in-front-of-other-women/
Although it is not permissible in the Hanafi school to uncover in front of a non-Muslim woman, your role would not be seen as assisting in sin, and there is room for dispensation, according to the former. Please see more details here:
https://seekersguidance.org/answers/hanafi-fiqh/a-detailed-exposition-of-the-fiqh-of-covering-ones-nakedness-awra/
May Allah give you the best of this world and the next.
[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani