Al-Hamu is More Dangerous

Question :

I and my brothers live in one house and we are all praise and thanks be to Allah obedient to the Commands of Allah and the commands of his Messenger But we are suffering from a custom of ours which we inherited from our fathers and our grandfathers. That is that the men sit together with women, that is, the brothers. together with their wives. A zealous person in the observation of the religion advised us, but we did not pay attention to him, because he is new to the religion and I spoke to my father one day, saying: "We should not do this detestable thing; in fact, it is incumbent upon us to stop it," but my father said: "By Allah, if you do this thing, I will leave you and not sit with you." Likewise, one of my brothers agrees with my father in this matter, so I request guidance and advice from your Eminence and am I right in taking this position?

Answer:

Yes, you are right in refusing to take part in this evil custom, which contradicts the evidences of the (revealed) texts (i.e., the Qur'an and Sunnah), For it is an obligation upon the wives to veil themselves from their husbands' brothers and it is not permissible for them to reveal their faces in front of their husbands' brothers. Just as it is not permissible for them to reveal their faces to unrelated men in the market.

In fact, their revealing their faces to their husbands' brothers is more dangerous, because the husband's brother is in the house, either living there, or as a visitor and a guest, or such like. So if he enters the house, it will not be objected to, nor will it be considered surprising, so the danger of it is greater.

This is why the Prophet SAW warned against entering upon women, saying:
"Beware of entering upon women."

They said: "O Messenger of Allah! What do you say regarding Al-Hamu?" He replied:
"Al-Hamu is death."

That is, it is incumbent upon us to flee from it as a person flees. from death. And these words-1 mean his saying: "Al-Hamu is death" are among the most momentous words of warning against it. I say: Verily, your action, i.e., your rejecting this deed, which is the custom of the people is correct. As for the saying of your father: "If you do this thing (i.e., veiling the women from their husbands' brothers), I will not stay with you," I advise him to submit to the truth and not to care about the customs which contradict it. And he should fear Allah, the Almighty, the All- Powerful and be the first to order this deed-I mean the order for the women to be veiled from those who are not Mahrams, so that he may be a guardian and undertake his guardianship in the best manner. For a man is a guardian in his house and he will be asked about his charges.

Source:
Ibn 'Uthaimin
Fatawa Islamiyah, Vol. 5 Pages 135-136