Praise be to Allaah.
Your sister’s husband is a stranger (non-mahram) to you, and
you have to cover your face in front of him and not be alone with him.
Similarly it is haraam for him to look at you or to be alone with you.
Unfortunately people are careless in their homes with regard to the in-laws,
even though sharee’ah speaks strongly concerning them more than others,
because people mix freely with them in their houses and the family members
trust them.
It was narrated from ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Aamir that the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Beware of
entering upon women.” A man from among the Ansaar said: “O Messenger of
Allaah, what about the in-law?” He said: “The in-law is death.”
Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 4934; Muslim, 2172.
The in-law is the husband’s relative.
We notice here that the Sahaabi wanted to make an exception
in the case of the husband’s relatives, but the ruling was re-emphasized in
the strongest terms, because no one regards it as strange if he enters the
house.
Al-Nawawi said:
With regard to the Prophet’s words, “The in-law is death,”
what this means is that the fear in his case is greater than in the case of
others, and evil is expected on his part and the fitnah (temptation) is
greater, because he is able to reach the woman and be alone with her with no
one denouncing him, unlike the stranger or non-mahram. What is meant by the
in-law here is the husband’s relatives, except for his father/grandfather
and sons/grandsons.His father/grandfather and sons/grandsons are mahrams of
the wife and it is permissible for them to be alone with her; they are not
described as “death”. Rather what is meant here is the brother, nephew,
uncle, cousin and others who are not mahrams. People customarily take things
lightly with regard to them, so a man will often be alone with his brother’s
wife. This is what is described as death and it is more important that he be
stopped than a stranger, for the reasons we have mentioned above. What I
have mentioned is the correct meaning of the hadeeth… Ibn al-A’raabi said:
This is something that the Arabs say, as in the phrase al-asad al-mawt
(the lion is death), because meeting it is like dying. Al-Qaadi said: What
is meant is that being alone with the in-laws leads to fitnah (temptation)
and the destruction of one’s religious commitment, so this is described as
being akin to the destruction of death.
Sharh Muslim, 14/154.
We advise this sister and others to fear Allaah and strive to
wear proper hijaab in front of non-mahram men.
Please see also questions no.
13728,
6408,
13261
And Allaah knows
best.