If the entire household shares a single residence, he must install a door separating the men’s quarters from the women’s quarters, keep it locked, and take the key with him. He should say to his brother, “This is your area,” and to his family, “This is yours.” The doors may never be left open, for the brother might enter, Satan could lure him, and he might rape her—or entice her until she consents, treating her as though she were his wife, coming and going without restraint. We ask Allah for safety.

Another case of unlawful seclusion is being alone with a driver. A man who employs a driver and has a wife or daughter may not allow the driver to be alone with her unless a maḥram is present. Seclusion in a car is even more perilous than seclusion in a house: they can talk freely, drive wherever they wish, and commit indecency—who would stop them? Therefore it is forbidden for a man to let his wife, sister, or daughter ride alone with the driver, even for as little as five steps; this is never permissible.

Someone may object: “What if she is a student and her father is ill or busy and cannot accompany her, yet she must attend classes?” We reply: Who says she must attend? Any course of study that entails falling into the unlawful is itself unlawful; she must remain at home. Praise be to Allah, there are plenty of upright young men who can pursue such studies, and once a woman has learned the basics she can review her material and enroll by correspondence. But to travel alone with the driver is prohibited.

We fear that the man who enables his family to do this may incur part of the description of the dayyūth—the one who is complacent about his family’s immorality. Although he has not explicitly approved any wrongdoing, his action may be a means to it. Allah alone grants success.