Question Summary:
What are valid conditions for a man to not speak with a woman?

Question Detail:

Salam. In the Sharia, what are valid conditions for a man to not speak with a woman? Is a man allowed to not speak with a woman, even if he hurt her by a mistake and feels uncomfortable speaking with women? Is it wrong for a man to stay quiet by not saying anything to a woman who he hurt, even thought she accepted his apology without him saying anything?

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
 
You enquire what are valid conditions for a man to speak to a woman. It should be pointed out that Shariah permits a ghair mahram male and female to talk to each other only if there is a valid excuse in Shariah. Hence, the question should be, what are the valid conditions in Shariah to talk to a ghair mahram woman?
 
Shariah advises us avoid any unnecessary contact with women to safeguard us from being caught in shaytan’s and nafs snare which leads to pursing our carnal desires. Interaction with women should only be limited to a pressing need.
 
In the enquired scenario, you state that the women in reference has accepted your apology, so there is no apparent need to apologize. Expressing of an apology is enough. You are not excused to speak to her.
 
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Huzaifah Deedat
Student Darul Iftaa
Lusaka, Zambia 
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
_______________________
وَلَا تَقْرَبُوا الزِّنَا إِنَّهُ كَانَ فَاحِشَةً وَسَاءَ سَبِيلًا [الإسراء: 32]
قُلْ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ يَغُضُّوا مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِمْ وَيَحْفَظُوا فُرُوجَهُمْ ذَلِكَ أَزْكَى لَهُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا يَصْنَعُونَ  [النور: 30]