Women’s Outings in Islam: Rules

Women’s Rights to Leave Home in Islam: Quran & Hadith Guidance

Question: Can a woman go out of the house for walking/recreation or a job, etc.?

Answer:

Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah):

In principle, a woman should remain in her home and go out of the house only when necessary, because the entire household expense is the responsibility of the men—upon the father and brother before marriage, and upon the husband after marriage.

Allah Almighty says in the Quran…!!!

بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

اَلرِّجَالُ قَوَّامُوۡنَ عَلَى النِّسَآءِ بِمَا فَضَّلَ اللّٰهُ بَعۡضَهُمۡ عَلٰى بَعۡضٍ وَّبِمَاۤ اَنۡفَقُوۡا مِنۡ اَمۡوَالِهِمۡ‌ ؕ فَالصّٰلِحٰتُ قٰنِتٰتٌ حٰفِظٰتٌ لِّلۡغَيۡبِ بِمَا حَفِظَ اللّٰهُ‌ ؕ (سورہ نساء،آئیت نمبر-4)

Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has made one of them to excel the other, and because they spend (to support them) from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in (the husband's) absence what Allah would have them guard...!!

Tafseer (Exegesis):

اَلرِّجَالُ قَوّٰمُوْنَ :

The Shariah has designated the man as the Qawwam (guardian, responsible person) for the management and administration of the house and has placed the woman under his care. The Quran has stated two reasons for this:

First, that man has been given a natural distinction to be the administrator, and second, that all household expenses, including the wife’s maintenance, are the responsibility of the man. On this basis, the right to be the head of the household belongs to the man, not the woman.

The same applies to governmental affairs; a woman cannot be the Caliph or Amir of the Muslims.

Rather, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ( لَنْ یُفْلِحَ قَوْمٌ وَلَّوْ اَمْرَہُمُ امْرَأَۃً ) “A people will never succeed who entrust their affairs to a woman.”

[Bukhari, Al-Maghazi, Chapter: The Letter of the Prophet (SAW) to Kisra and Caesar: 4425]

(Tafseer Al-Quran – Surah 4 – An-Nisa – Verse 34)

And Allah Almighty commands:

أَعـوذُ بِاللهِ مِنَ الشَّيْـطانِ الرَّجيـم

بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

وَقَرۡنَ فِىۡ بُيُوۡتِكُنَّ وَلَا تَبَـرَّجۡنَ تَبَرُّجَ الۡجَاهِلِيَّةِ الۡاُوۡلٰى وَاَقِمۡنَ الصَّلٰوةَ وَاٰتِيۡنَ الزَّكٰوةَ وَاَطِعۡنَ اللّٰهَ وَرَسُوۡلَهٗ ؕ اِنَّمَا يُرِيۡدُ اللّٰهُ لِيُذۡهِبَ عَنۡكُمُ الرِّجۡسَ اَهۡلَ الۡبَيۡتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمۡ تَطۡهِيۡرًا

Translation:

And stay in your houses, and do not display yourselves like that of the times of ignorance, and perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat), and give Zakat and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah wishes only to remove Ar-Rijs (evil deeds and sins, etc.) from you, O members of the family (of the Prophet SAW), and to purify you with a thorough purification.

Tafseer:

In this verse, the pure wives (of the Prophet) were ordered to stay inside their homes, because there is greater protection and safety for them in this.

This ruling applies to other women as well.

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

( اَلْمَرْأَۃُ عَوْرَۃٌ وَ إِنَّھَا إِذَا خَرَجَتِ اسْتَشْرَفَھَا الشَّیْطَانُ وَ إِنَّھَا لَا تَکُوْنُ أَقْرَبَ إِلَی اللّٰہِ مِنْھَا فِيْ قَعْرِ بَیْتِھَا )

[Tabarani in Al-Awsat: 3/189, H: 2890, from Ibn Umar. Salsalat al-Ahadith al-Sahihah: 6/187, H: 2688]

“The woman is Awrah (something to be concealed); when she goes out, the Shaytan raises his head to look at her, and she is never closer to Allah than when she is in the innermost part of her house.”

And regarding women offering prayer in the mosque, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: (Their homes are better for them).

(Sunan Abu Dawood: 567)

Al-Albani declared it Sahih in Sahih Abu Dawood.

وَلَا تَبَرَّجْنَ تَــبَرُّجَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ الْاُوْلٰى :

The meaning of “تَــبَرُّجَ” is for a woman to display her adornment to non-Mahram men, which is obligatory to conceal. That is, do not come before men adorned and beautified as women used to do in the days of ignorance (Jahiliyyah) before Islam. Here, the word “الْاُوْلٰى” (the first/former) is not for restriction but is used either as an idiom like “ignorance of the ignorant,” or it refers to the condition before Islam as “the former.”

In the days of ignorance, it was the custom that women used to go out unveiled with makeup and adornment. Unfortunately!

Now this same custom has become prevalent among Muslims under the guise of culture and other pleasant-sounding names.

(Tafseer Al-Quran Al-Kareem – Surah Al-Ahzab – Verse 33)

And from this sentence, it is also known that a woman can go out for necessity while concealing her adornment.

Aisha (RA) narrates that after the command of Hijab was revealed, Sawdah (RA) went out for her need. She was a woman of heavy build and would not remain hidden from those who knew her. Umar bin Khattab (RA) saw her and said: “O Sawdah! By Allah! You are not hidden from us, so look at how you go out?” Aisha (RA) says that she returned; the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was in my house, eating dinner, and a piece of meat was in his hand when she (Sawdah RA) came and said: “O Messenger of Allah! I went out for some need of mine, and Umar (RA) said such and such to me.” Aisha (RA) says that Allah Almighty sent revelation upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in this state, while the meat was still in his hand and he had not put it down.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ( إِنَّہُ قَدْ أُذِنَ لَکُنَّ أَنْ تَخْرُجْنَ لِحَاجَتِکُنَّ )

“You have been permitted to go out for your needs.”

(Sahih Bukhari, Al-Tafseer, Chapter: The saying (Do not enter the houses of the Prophet…): 4795)

From this Hadith, it is known that Umar bin Khattab (RA) desired a complete ban on women going out, but Allah Almighty granted them permission to go out for necessity. However, the condition of the veil (Purdah) was imposed for this, to the extent that even if they want to go to the mosque to offer congregational prayer, the command is that they should not go out displaying adornment and should not be wearing perfume.

There are several narrations regarding women going out:

Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “When the wife of one of you asks for permission to go to the mosque, do not prevent her.”

(Sahih Bukhari Hadith No. 873)

Zainab (RA), the wife of Abdullah (RA), narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to us: “When one of you (women) comes to the mosque, she should not apply perfume.”

(Sahih Muslim Hadith No. 443)

Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that my aunt was divorced, and she wanted to harvest the fruit of her date palms, but a man scolded her for going out. So she came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:12

“Why not? Go and harvest your dates, perhaps you will give charity or do some good deed.”34

(Sahih Muslim Hadith No. 1483)56

From all these verses and narrations, it is proven that Islam has brought measures to protect the hono7r and d8ignity of women, and the Islamic Shariah has enacted several laws for her protection.

From these narrations, it is known that a woman can go out out of necessity, and it is proven from many narrations that in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), women used to go out at times of need.9

The wisdom behind forbidding women from going10 out and keeping them veiled:

Regarding this, Allah Almighty says!!

اِنَّمَا يُرِيْدُ اللّٰهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ:

Meaning, forbidding you from speaking with a soft voice and from displaying adornment like the display of the days of ignorance is not intended to humiliate you or express displeasure with you. Rather, Allah wants to remove every kind of external and internal impurity from you and to keep you thoroughly pure and clean from every kind of defect.

(Tafseer Al-Quran Surah Al-Ahzab – Verse 33)

On this basis, the principle is that a woman should stay in her home and not go out without any necessity or need. And the religion of Islam has declared a woman’s prayer offered in her home to be better than her prayer offered in the mosque (even if it is in Masjid al-Nabawi or Masjid al-Haram).

This does not mean that the woman has been kept imprisoned in the house. Rather, Islam has made it permissible for her to go to the mosque with a veil, and has made the performance of Hajj and Umrah, and the Eid prayer, etc., obligatory upon her. And it is also legislated for her to go to visit her relatives and kin, and she can also go to seek a Fatwa and ask questions from the scholars.

Similarly, women are allowed to go out for their needs, but all this will be done while adhering to Shariah laws and regulations: that there should be no travel without a Mahram, the path should be safe, the destination should be safe, and likewise, she should go out fully veiled, not unveiled and adorned.

Similarly, regarding the second question which refers to recreation (Tafreeh): It is possible that in this recreation there is mixing with strange and non-Mahram men and being seen by them, or travel without a Mahram, or it is excessive without any benefit. Therefore, it is necessary to warn here that the recreation must be truly permissible (Mubah) and Halal, and free from Haram acts that invite the punishment of Allah Almighty.

Shariah does not forbid recreation; rather, in many Ahadith, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) himself provided recreation for the Mothers of the Believers.

Aisha (RA) narrates:

I used to play with dolls in the presence of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and I had girl friends who played with me. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) entered, they would hide, then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would send them to me, and they would play with me.

(Sahih Bukhari, Hadith No. 6130)

Aisha (RA) narrates:

On the day of Eid, some Abyssinians were displaying a game with shields and spears. Either I asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) or he himself said, “Do you wish to watch?” I said, “Yes.” He made me stand behind him, my cheek against his cheek (so I could see the game clearly from behind the veil), and he was saying: “Carry on, O Bani Arfidah!” When I got tired, he said: “Is that enough?” I said, “Yes.” He said: “Then go.”

(Sahih Bukhari, Hadith No. 2907)

Aisha (RA) narrates:

She was on a journey with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). She says: I raced him (on foot) and I beat him. Later, when I put on some weight, I raced him again and he won. Upon this, he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “This win is for that win.”

(Sunan Abu Dawood Hadith No. 2578)

Therefore, if she goes to a recreational place with a Mahram, wearing a veil, where there is neither any Haram act, nor unveiling, nor mixing of men, and the woman does not go out excessively for this reason, then there is no harm in it.

Third Question: It is permissible for a woman to leave the house for employment, but there are certain rules and regulations. If these are present, then it will be permissible for a woman to go out for the purpose of work, such as:

• The woman has a need to work, and she makes employment a means of income to fulfill her needs, as is present in your situation.
• The work should be such that it aligns with the female gender in terms of body, creation, and temperament, for example: medicine, nursing, teaching, sewing/embroidery, etc.
• Only women should be working at the workplace; there should be no mixing with strange men.
• During work, the woman must fully observe the Shariah Hijab.
• She should not have to travel without a Mahram due to work.
• She should not have to commit any Haram act while going to work, for example: traveling alone with a driver, applying perfume that reaches strange men, etc.
• Essential matters should not be disrupted due to employment, for example: looking after the house, fulfilling the needs of the husband and children on time.

Sheikh Muhammad bin Salih Al-Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) says:

“The workplace for a woman should be such where: only women work, for example: she works in girls’ educational institutions, whether the work is administrative or technical, or she sews women’s clothes while staying in her home, or does any other similar work.

Therefore, it is not permissible for a woman to work in places where men work; because this necessitates mixing with men, and this is a very serious type of Fitnah (trial/temptation) from which it is extremely necessary to abstain. It is also necessary to keep in mind that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: (I have not left behind me a trial more harmful to men than women). Therefore, this responsibility lies upon the head of the household to protect his family from places of Fitnah and causes of Fitnah.” End quote.

Fatawa Al-Mar’ah Al-Muslimah (2 / 981)

If all these conditions are found in the women’s workplace, then InshaAllah there is no harm in it. But if a woman has to commit any of these Haram acts or break the laws enforced by Allah to go to work, then it is not permissible for her to do this job.

(And Allah Almighty knows best what is correct)

Reference: https://alfurqan.info/problems/741