What is the religious decree on men selling women’s underwear and women buying them?
Dear Brother / Sister,
The information regarding the issue in fiqh books is as follows:
One of the conditions necessary to buy and sell something is its being "mal mutaqawwim". (see Majalla, item 199) "Mal mutaqawwim" means something that is permissible to use and its being available. (see Majalla, item 127) However, it is normally permissible to buy and sell something that has the other conditions (for instance, being available, deliverable and known see Majalla, item 197-204).
Nevertheless, a knife is "mal mutaqawwim" but it is not permissible to sell it to a person who says, "Sell me this knife at once; I will kill such and such a person." For, it means to help evil and a bad deed. In that case, if he sells the knife, this sale is valid since it has the conditions; the money he earns is legitimate but he also commits a sin.
When a legitimate deed and an illegitimate coincide, it is necessary to avoid the illegitimate deed by abandoning the legitimate deed. "Eliminating a bad deed is better than doing a good deed." (Majalla, item 30). Allah states the following in the Quran:
"Help ye one another in righteousness and piety, but help ye not one another in sin and rancor." (al-Maida, 5/2)
It is not possible to say that it is haram to sell women’s or men’s underwear. However, though it is not haram for a person to produce or sell very private underwear of the opposite gender, it is makruh (Allah knows). For, this harms personality and eliminates modesty. This will also open doors to evil. That is, the drawback here is in the third step. Therefore, it can be said that it is makruh.
To sum up, women who protect their good manners and modesty should try not to buy their underwear from men. Besides, it is not appropriate to dry them in places where non-mahram men can see.
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