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What is the ruling on bringing a maid to serve the husband's parents, given that the husband is financially capable, the wife is busy with children and cleaning, and the husband cannot help her, knowing that the parents do not prefer this?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Maidservants should not be brought in except out of need or necessity, for bringing them leads to financial waste, and may result in various religious prohibitions and tragedies, especially if the maidservant is non-Muslim or if there are teenagers in the house.

The following conditions are required for their recruitment to be permissible: 1. The maidservant must be accompanied by a mahram, based on the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "A woman should not travel except with a mahram." 2. There must be a genuine need for her presence. 3. There should be no fear of fitna (temptation/strife) for oneself or one's children. 4. The maidservant must adhere to the shar'i hijab and not uncover her face to non-mahrams. 5. There must be absolutely no khalwa (private seclusion) with her, whether someone else is present in the house or when the family members are out.

As for recruiting her from her country without a mahram, it is forbidden. And if she stays overnight in the family's home, there is a risk, especially with the presence of young men. Therefore, it is advised not to recruit a maidservant unless there is an extreme necessity and these conditions are observed.

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

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