Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen was asked:

Question:

“Shaikh, may Allah pardon you. If a man is in a land in which it is difficult for him to work in a place where there are no women because many women work in this land. So what is the ruling [on a man working in such environments] because women are found in most departments/fields? What is the ruling? Should he work or not?”

Answer:

“If it is possible, may Allah bless you, for him to work in a place where there are no women, then let him leave this place which has women and work there. If it is not possible for him and he is in need of work, then he works and is eager in staying away from the women and in lowering his gaze.

فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ

“So keep your duty to Allah and fear Him as much as you can” [64:16]

If we were, for example, in a land where women display their charms/beauty and are perfumed, can we say: ‘do not go out for prayer because the market is full of these women? No. Do we say: ‘do not go out to get the needs of the house’? No. If you need to work in this place in which there are women and you can not find other than it and you are in need of money, then work and be eager in staying away from the women and in lowering the gaze”. End translation.

Translated by

Faisal bin Abdul Qaadir bin Hassan
Abu Sulaymaan