Hijab — Page 51
51 Gatherings of Women and Men Should be Separate The Islamic teaching is that there should not be free and unrestricted meetings of men and women and mixed gatherings should not be held. In this context, while guiding Ahmadi women, Huzoor Anwar atba explained with deep wisdom: “If you start sitting in men’s gatherings while wearing Burqa and start shaking hands with them, the purpose of Purda is destroyed. It has no advantage. The purpose of Purda is that unrelated men and women do not intermingle freely or meet each other. Both should have separate places. If you visit a friend’s house and sit with her husband, brothers or other relatives in a liberal environment, even if you are sitting with your face covered or are shaking a man’s hand with a veiled face, it is not Purda. The objective of Purda is that unrelated men should not come in women’s gatherings and neither should women go in front of unrelated men. Their gatherings should be separate. Moreover, this is also an injunction of the Holy Qurān that one should observe Purda from women who are like prostitutes or who can have a negative effect on one’s thinking. The command enjoins to avoid them, so be careful and avoid such gatherings. (Address to Ladies, Jalsa Salana Canada July 3, 2004, Al-Fazl International, September 23, 2005) Handshaking Between Men and Women Shaking hands between men and women comes under the category of negating the teachings of Purda. While replying to a question regarding this, Huzoor Anwar atba said, “Talking unnecessarily to men and excessive frankness gives them the opportunity to shake hands. Ahmadi women must realize their stature and should not give such an opportunity to anyone. They should tell the men that in our religion women do not greet men, which means they do not shake hands with men. ”(Meeting National ‘Amila Lajna Ireland,