Sheikh Muhammad Nur Abdullah, President of the ISNA (Islamic Society of North America) and member of the Fiqh Council ofNorth America, states: “At the time of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) there was no curtain or partition to separate men from women while performing salah nor while holding a social gathering, except for the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) who are commanded in the Qur’an to only speak to people from behind curtain/barrier. There are so many hadiths in the Sunnah showing men and women participating together in social gathering while observing the proper Islamic dress and etiquette in dealing with non-mahrem. So, it is not required to put a curtain in our mosques nor in our social gatherings.
The only concern happens when there are numbers of women in our mosques or gatherings who are not observing proper hijab. I think the ideal solution for it is by designating a private area for them.”