I see what you mean. So I guess the problem is the free mixing, which I understand. I guess ideally there should be a degree of separation between men and women when it comes to these types of settings, but we don’t live in that ideal society anymore. I’m sure healthy, purposeful dialogue of a professional manner with the opposite gender is okay?

I was one of those girls who was placed in a mixed environment, both with Muslims and non Muslims. I wear a abaya and am pretty modest in the way I dress. Alhamdulilah I was able to handle being in a mixed environment my whole life because I was taught to not only be modest in the way I dress but also the way I interact with the opposite gender. I was raised to not talk to the opposite gender unless it’s purposeful and not just casually chatting. I was put in group projects with men and I interacted with them without getting any feelings because I had strict and unwavering boundaries when it came to interacting with them.

I agree that problems arise when women/men are placed in mixed environments like that, but I think we live in a world where remote work/study isn’t readily available to all. Where I lived, this wasn’t an option and not readily available, so how else would I be able to contribute to society, you see what I mean? I think in the world we live in today we need to focus on teaching men and women how to establish proper boundaries so that those feelings don’t start to develop. I’ve seen girls who fell for that and they all had one thing in common: they never had proper boundaries in the way they interacted with one another.

Also I’ve known all my life that this type of hijab is more specific to the mothers of the believers. Not leaving the home and speaking to men behind a curtain were legislations only given to our mothers. Even our mother Aisha didn’t always stay at home and went out on multiple occasions after the Prophet PBUH’s death.