Women and Work

In a recent Radio program broadcast from Cape Town and aired on our local community Radio, a female interviewee mentioned that the idea of women not being allowed to work was that of ‘Indian’ Ulema and not standard teaching of Islam. She further averred that the Muslim woman should take her rightful place in society, and that is to get into the work place alongside male counterparts. This article is designed to refute these obnoxious and spurious claims that make a mockery of Islamic teaching.
Firstly, it is great lie to claim that ‘Indian’ Ulema, or Ulema from the Indo-Pak subcontinent rule that women are not allowed to work, for two reasons: One: there is no blanket law in Islam that prohibits a female from working, for that depends on circumstances, as we shall explain further.

Two: when a fatwa was issued prohibiting females from working under specific circumstances, it was based on Quran, Hadith, and rulings of Arab ‘Ulema of the past. This has nothing to do with Indian or Pakistani ‘Ulema. Let us now proceed to understand this issue in proper Islamic terms.
The Shariah of Islam has allocated distinct roles to man and woman. Each of these species of Allah’s creation have unique and singularly peculiar characteristics vested in them by The Permission and Will of Almighty Allah, and based on this Allah Ta’ala has identified certain responsibilities. In Surah Baqarah, verse 233 Allah Ta’ala declares: “And upon the fathers is their (the mothers) sustenance and clothing.” Then in Surah Talaaq, verse 6 Allah Ta’ala commands: “House them (your wives) in the places you live, according to your affordability..” In the very next verse of the same Surah, Allah Taa’la repeats the command to spend on wives from one’s ability. These verses allocate the duty of expenses to the husband, and this then becomes his Shar’ee role. The nature of a man is such that he possesses the ability and strength to go out and work. The emergence of man is in perfect concord with the Law of Nature, which is the Law ordained by Allah.
On the other hand, Shariah has devised a different role for females. In Surah Baqarah, verse 233 Allah Ta’ala states: “And mothers shall breastfeed their babies for two full years… In this verse the mother has been allocated a maximum period of two years for breastfeeding, one of the crucial stages of a baby’s development. Rasoolullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said in a hadith narrated in Saheeh Bukhari: Each one of you is a shepherd and each one will be questioned about his flock. A woman is a shepherd over the household of her husband, and she will be questioned about her charges. Here the Muslim woman is saddled with the task of rearing her children and controlling the household affairs. From these few quotations, which are few of many, it is evident that the role of the female is domestic in essence. This is the natural law for females established by Allah Ta’ala. Note that we have quoted Quranic verses and sayings of Allah’a Noble Messenger (alayhis-salaam). These are not views expressed by ‘Indian’ Ulema.
When humankind go against this natural Law of Allah and they attempt to subvert the Divine System created by Allah The Almighty, the consequences are serious and far-reaching. By sending women out to work alongside men, in breach of Allah’s Law of Nature. the result will be nothing but societal chaos. It is no small wonder that our society today is in such turmoil. Every alteration to nature brings in its wake unbearable consequences. The Holy Quran refers to this as wide-spread corruption on land and in sea because of man’s doings. (Sura 30, verse 41)
The Devil, Iblees swore an oath when he was expelled from Jannat. He said: “I shall certainly command them, and they shall alter the creation of Allah..” (Sura Nisaa, verse 119) ‘Ulema of Tafseer say that this alteration of Allah’s creation refers to any form of change in the Natural Law of Allah, from the shaving of beard to the abandonment of hijaab. The concept of the working woman is exclusively western in origin and essence. Sadly, our Muslim females, having succumbed to this un-Islamic influence, are following suit. Shaytaan has made good his promise in this regard, for undoubtedly the role envisaged by Shariah for women has been drastically altered.
Many ahadeeth of Rasoolullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) prohibit females from emerging. Once The Messenger of Allah (alayhis salaam) said: “A woman is an object of concealment. When she emerges, shaytaan fixes his gaze upon her. And the closest she is to Allah is when she is in the innermost recess of her home.” (Tabarani) Here is another emphatic command from Shariah for a female to exercise caution as regards emerging. How can a Muslim then echo statements of the West that ‘females should take their rightful places, alongside menfolk in the work environment’? A female’s rightful place in society is the role allotted to her by Allah Ta’ala.
At the same time, let it be made clear that during times of need, a woman is allowed to leave home. It appears in Saheeh Bukhari that Rasoolullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) permitted women to leave the home for the fulfilment of their needs. Hence, if a woman has no form of income and no means of survival, she is allowed to leave home and earn a living, on condition that she retains her hijaab and avoids intermingling with men. It is precisely for this reason that a widow who is in iddat may leave the house between sunrise and sunset to earn a living, whereas the divorcee may not do so since there is a husband to support the latter but not the former.
A woman is also allowed to work from home and acquire income. The Holy Quran has afforded women their share of income. In Surah Nisaa, verse 32, Allah Ta’ala states: “For men is a share of what they earned, and for women is a share of what they have earned.” In this sacred verse, Allah Ta’ala has clearly granted women her individual right to any property that she has earned. So clearly Islam does not deprive women of the right to earn and the right to own property. Islam came to restore and not restrict the rights of females. However, when an individual is granted permission by Allah Ta’ala to acquire certain rights and privileges, he or she may only do so whilst simultaneously observing the other rules and regulations of Shariah.
It is erroneous to assume that one may go about enjoying a privilege granted by Shariah, but at the same time discard other laws that apply to the same individual. For example, when Islam allows man to acquire property, man is still bound to observe the other laws of Islam such as salaah, fasting, Hajj, etc. He may not argue that since Islam granted freedom to work and earn an honest living he had to abandon salaah because work prevented him from offering salaah, or from performing Hajj. In like manner, a female may not contend that since Islam has accorded her the right to earn and acquire wealth, she may discard Hijaab and intermingle with men. In short, all the laws of Islam must apply in harmonious conjunction, and this is quite simple for those who sincerely wish to fulfil the commandments of Allah. Rather than contradict each other, the Laws of Shariah are perfectly complementary to one another, and only people ignorant of Deen will fail to observe this.
From the afore-going paragraphs we can conclude that during times of need, such as when a female has no income and desperately needs money to support herself and her kids, Islam will allow her to work under conditions of hijaab and purdah, whilst avoiding any interaction with men. But for a Muslim female to get into the work environment just to pursue a career and perpetuate a Western trend, is a serious breach of Shariah and conflicts with the Law of Allah. As explained earlier, this is also against the Law of Nature.