** (Series of answers by the scholar Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah, Ameer of Hizb ut-Tahrir, to the questions of visitors to his Facebook page) **
To: Z.G
Question:
Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh,
I would like to ask you about a matter regarding a job offered to me. My father refused it from his perspective that this society is corrupt, and that his duty as a father is to protect his daughter and guard her from the wicked things circulating among some members of society.
Regarding the nature of the work, it is as a guide and first-aider for children aged nine. The guidance will be about Jerusalem; its walls, its mosques, and everything related to it. I will be working with a female colleague. However, my father told me that the matter is not limited to working personally with this girl; he told me that things would develop into other branches that we have no need for. As far as I know and what was presented to me, my dealings would be with this colleague. My father is insistent on refusing this job, just as I am insistent within myself to go through this experience. He also told me that any work of this kind is unacceptable before the establishment of the Khilafah State and the existence of a guardian who protects his subjects. So, what is your opinion?
Answer:
Wa Alaikum Assalam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh,
First and foremost, it is better to obey your father, for he desires for you purity and serenity...
Your work as a guide for children about Jerusalem is mubah (permissible) if it is restricted to this matter. However, the institution you will be working for may not limit its work to children; rather, it is possible that it may require subsequent activities involving ikhtilat (gender mixing) or the like, and it seems your father fears this. In any case, you undoubtedly know that the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), men and women, used to avoid some types of permissible actions that were close to the "dust" of the haram (forbidden) so as not to fall into the haram.
Conclusion: Come to an understanding with your father. If he is convinced that this work is not mixed with any dust of haram, and his heart is at peace that the institution you will work for will commit to not having ikhtilat in the work, and that it will be restricted to guiding children—if he is at peace with that, then it is good. But if he does not agree, then obey him, even if the work is purely mubah and he does not want you to go out to work in it. Obey him and you will have the reward and compensation, for Allah (swt) has coupled His worship with being kind to parents, and part of being kind to them is obeying them in what is good. He (swt) said:
وَقَضَى رَبُّكَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا إِيَّاهُ وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا إِمَّا يَبْلُغَنَّ عِنْدَكَ الْكِبَرَ أَحَدُهُمَا أَوْ كِلَاهُمَا فَلَا تَقُلْ لَهُمَا أُفٍّ وَلَا تَنْهَرْهُمَا وَقُلْ لَهُمَا قَوْلًا كَرِيمًا
"And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him, and that you be kind to parents. Whether one or both of them attain old age in your life, say not to them a word of disrespect, nor shout at them but address them in terms of honour." (QS. Al-Isra [17]: 23)
And Ahmad narrated in his Musnad on the authority of Abdullah bin Amr, who said: "My father complained about me to the Messenger of Allah (saw), and he said:
أَطِعْ أَبَاكَ مَا دَامَ حَيًّا، وَلَا تَعْصِهِ
"Obey your father as long as he lives, and do not disobey him."
Your brother, Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah
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