reluctant—meaning from Islam—so I asked the Messenger of Allah - peace and blessings of Allah be upon him - 'Should I maintain ties with her?' He said: 'Yes' (127). This is because the barrier between men and women exists for a reason that is not present between a Muslim woman and a dhimmi woman; therefore, it is necessary that the barrier should not be established between them, just like the case of a Muslim man with a dhimmi man. Furthermore, the hijab (veiling/barrier) only (128) becomes obligatory through a text or analogy, and neither of these has been established. As for His saying: {or their women}, it is possible that the intended meaning is (129) all women.

Section: As for a woman looking at a man, there are two narrations regarding this. The first is that she is permitted to look at that which is not awrah (intimate parts). The second is: It is not permissible for her to look at any part of a man except that which is permitted for him to look at of her. Abu Bakr chose this view. This (130) is one of the two opinions of al-Shafi'i, based on what al-Zuhri narrated from Nabhan, from Umm Salamah, who said: I was sitting with the Prophet - peace and blessings of Allah be upon him - along with Hafsah, when Ibn Umm Maktum sought permission to enter. The Prophet - peace and blessings of Allah be upon him - said: 'Veil yourselves from him.' I said: 'O Messenger of Allah, he is blind and cannot see us.' He said: 'Are you both also blind such that you cannot see him?' Narrated by Abu Dawud and others (131). Furthermore, Allah the Almighty commanded women to lower their gaze, just as He commanded men to do so. Additionally, women are one of the two types of human beings, so it is prohibited for them to look at the other type, by analogy to men. This is reinforced by the fact that the meaning which makes looking prohibited is the fear of fitnah (temptation), and this is more pronounced in the case of a woman, for she has greater desire and less intellect, so she is more quickly susceptible to fitnah. Our evidence is the statement of the Prophet - peace and blessings of Allah be upon him - to Fatimah bint Qays: 'Observe your waiting period ('iddah) in the house of Ibn Umm Maktum, for he is a blind man; you may take off your garments and he will not see you.' Muttafaq 'alayh (agreed upon) (132). And Aishah said: The Messenger of Allah...