Sahl ibn Sa'd al Sa'idy, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "Abu Usayd invited the Prophet [pbuh] and his Companions to his wedding feast and his wife, Um Usayd, served them food and drink herself" [Related by al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Al Bukhari placed this hadith in a chapter which he entitled On [the permissibility] of a woman serving [food and drink to] men at her own wedding.
Al Qurtuby stated in his exegesis of Qur'an: "Our scholars said: The report demonstrates the permissibility of the bride serving [food and drink to] her husband and his friends at her wedding."
Ibn Batal said in his explanation of Bukhari's collection of authentic hadith: "Separating between men and women [when they are in the same place and in direct interactions] is not obligatory for Muslim women in general but was specific to the wives of the Prophet; Allah says:
And when you ask [his wives] for something, ask them from behind a partition. [Qur'an 33: 53]
Ibn Hajar, the scholar of hadith, said in his book Fath al Bari: "The hadith demonstrates the permissibility of a woman serving [food and drink to] her husband and his guests. There is no doubt that this permissibility is valid only when the legal guidelines (lack of temptation and a woman covering what must be concealed) are met."
The two foremost scholars in hadith, al-Bukhari and Muslim, mention a report about Abu Talha al-Ansari and his guest: Abu Talha and his wife invited a guest into their home. As they did not have enough food to go around, they pretended to eat, and spent the night hungry. In the scholar Ibn abu Dunya's version, Anas narrated that Abu Talha told his wife: 'Crumble the bread and put it in butter, and tell the servant to blow out the lamp.' Then they pretended to share the food with their guest." It is apparent from this report that they were all eating from the same dish. The Prophet [pbuh] told Abu Talha:"Allah is pleased with what you did tonight." The following verse was sent addressing this event:
They love those who emigrated to them and find not any want in their breasts of what the emigrants were given but give [them] preference over themselves, even though they are in privation. [Qur'an 59: 9]
Abu Juhaifa, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "The Prophet [pbuh] established a bond of brotherhood between Salman and abu al Dard'a. Salman visited Abu al Dard'a and found his wife, Um al Dard'a disheveled. "What's wrong?" he asked her. She replied: "Your brother, Abu al Dard'a, has no worldly desires…"
Commenting on this hadith, Ibn Hajar said: "This hadith includes some benefits … the permissibility of talking to non-mahram women and asking about that which concerns their life."[/quote]
www.dar-alifta.org/Foreign/ViewFatwa.aspx?ID=4871
Quote:
"As for the Malikis, their position is what was mentioned by al-Kharshi in his marginalia on Mukhtasar Khalil (1:347): “The ‘awrah of a free-woman before a foreign man is her entire body, even her loose hair and forelock, with the exception of the face and hands, the outside of them and their inside. Furthermore, looking at them (the face and hands) without gratification and without fear of temptation and without a reason, is permissible, even if it is a young woman. Malik said, ‘a woman may eat with a non-near-relative (ghayr dhi mahram) and with her male servant, and she may occasionally eat with her husband and others of those with whom he dines’. Ibn al-Qattan said, ‘this contains proof of the permissibility of the woman showing her face and hands to a foreign man, since it is not conceivable to eat except in this manner [i.e. by showing the face and hands].'†An equivalent [passage] is [found] in Sharh al-Muwaq of al-Hattab (1:499) in more detail."
www.deoband.org/2010/06/hadith/hadith-commentary/the-hija...
[quote](478)Chapter: Women greeting men(478)
Umm Hani', the daughter of Abu Talib, said, "I went to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, while he was performing a major ablution. I greeted him and he asked, 'Who is this?' 'Umm Hani',' I replied. He said, 'Welcome.'"
Al-Hasan said, "Be women who greet men."
