Working under a woman officer and standing up for her when she enters

9-2-2014 | IslamWeb

Question:

our new officer is a muslim woman is it allowed in islam to follow a woman officer? can we stand up when she will enter our work place.?jazakallahookharia

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

If the field of work is permissible, and there are no religious prohibitions, then it is permissible to join it. The fact that the one who runs the work place [director] is a woman does not harm, as it is permissible for a woman to take positions of minor responsibility. However, a woman is prevented from taking positions of major responsibility [like a judge or a ruler]. Please refer to Fataawa 140070 and 89181.

As regards standing up for her when she enters, then if this is a sign of respect for her, then there is no harm in it. Ibn Hajar said: “Al-Ghazaali said: Standing for someone as a sign of glorifying the person is disliked, and if it was for the sake of respecting a person, then this is not disliked; and this is a good clarification.” [Fat-h Al-Baari]

For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 117363.

Allaah Knows best.