[fashikn]

Assalaamu'alaikum,

I have some experiences of this issue. I have just completed my undergraduate studies at a university in the UK and had a place held for clinical medicine there, a place which I have just declined, today.

After studying on the medical route for the past 3 years, I decided that I felt it would be too difficult to balance life as a practicing doctor and priorities with children and my ambitions for studying the deen. However, what everyone on the thread should realise is that the most important thing for us is not to throw around fatawa ourselves about whether going to university or not is haram, as there are differing opinions among scholars on the issue. I have consulted a number of eminent scholars from ahl al-sunnah wa al-jama'ah, both in the UK and abroad, on this topic, and the overarching opinion I heard was that studying medicine and studying the deen are both noble, and medical knowledge is second only to deeny knowledge as Imam al-Shafi'i has told us.

It is possible to go to university and maintain one's deen. MashaAllah I know of a number of very practicing students who are making great contributions to university Islamic societies, gaining a beneficial education and also studying the deen and developing their knowledge and practice of tasawwuf. It is difficult but it is not impossible, so people should not throw around opinions of university being haram in such a sweeping manner.

As for me, different scholars narrated to me different opinions, and although studying medicine would be a noble thing to do, as after all some women do need to work in fields for which there is a fard kifaya, such as in medicine and teaching, I decided that it was not for me. Mufti Kamaluddin Ahmed in particular is of the opinion that there are enough female doctors in the UK, not necessarily muslims but at least female, and with all of the difficulties of medical training here, having to abide by the dress code and having to treat male patients, these disadvantages outweigh the possible benefits of practicing medicine, especially as the ultimate focus for Muslim women should be raising their children. If there was a sister desperately keen to practice medicine, she could of course study medicine in a Muslim country and specialise in gynaecology or paediatrics and practice here, but again the time commitment would mean that to be able to do justice in raising one's kids, she would have to limit the number of children she would have, which for me was the biggest deterring factor in all of this.

secondly, you must wear their uniforms which are not covering

they have a policy of short sleeves because apparently they believe long sleeves spread diseases and they don't compromise on this issue so you will be wearing short sleeves, many muslimahs left their medical career and switched to things like teaching once they enforced this rule upon them

As an aside, Muslim women can make do with the uniform policies, such as getting hold of plastic disposable sleeves and wearing full surgical gowns in theatre, for example. I know a niqabi sister practicing medicine who, although not wearing niqab in hospital, is able to maintain her hijab and practice with haya. As I mentioned above, doing medicine is not impossible, and it is very noble, though in the current climate I wouldn't advise sisters to follow this route, particularly with the state of the ummah as it is, and the huge importance of raising our children to be strong muslims, on the deen who will be able to withstand the evils and fitnah of society here in the west.

InshaAllah I hope this has been of some benefit.

Wassalaam