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What are the boundaries of the lawful relationship between a Muslim woman and her servants?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

A Muslim woman should deal with non-Muslim domestic workers according to the Shari'ah, by not employing them in the first place, as a preventive measure (sadd al-dhari'ah). If they are Muslims, then they must be treated with Islamic ethics, through advice, guidance, and teaching them matters of their religion. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Religion is advice." Their conditions must be fulfilled, and their material and moral rights must be paid, for the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Muslims are bound by their conditions." If a Muslim woman does not observe Allah's law concerning domestic workers, then it is not permissible to employ them.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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