Asallam alaikm shaikh please do guide on what Islam says about women and career.
All praise be to Allah, and may His blessings and peace be on His last prophet and messenger, Muhammad.
Muslim women may work and seek whatever careers they desire as long as they do not compromise their Islamic values, and they prioritize the needs of their homes and families. When they need to take time off or work part-time, their husbands should work harder to make up for the lost income. Muslim families with chronic dependence on two incomes should wean themselves from that – as much as possible.
This is the short answer. Here are some details, which I will address in two main points and a conclusion.
- Women are allowed to work outside and seek the careers they desire
- There are differential roles for men and women when it comes to work indoors and outdoors
- Conclusion and recommendations
1- Women are allowed to work outside and seek the careers they desire
It was reported by Muslim from Jabir that he said,
”طُلِّقَتْ خَالَتِي فَأَرَادَتْ أَنْ تَجُدَّ نَخْلَهَا فَزَجَرَهَا رَجُلٌ أَنْ تَخْرُجَ فَأَتَتْ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَقَالَ: بَلَى فَجُدِّي نَخْلَكِ فَإِنَّكِ عَسَى أَنْ تَصَدَّقِي أَوْ تَفْعَلِي مَعْرُوفًا.“
“My maternal aunt was divorced, and she intended to pluck her dates. A person scolded her for having come out (during the period of ‘Idda). She came to Allah’s Prophet (may peace be upon him.) and he said: Certainly, you can pluck (dates) from your palm trees, for perhaps you may give charity or do an act of kindness.”
It is obvious from this hadith that women are allowed to work outside of their homes.
There are legitimate needs for many women to work. It is not a matter of luxury afforded to them by Islam. Many women have various personal needs and there are also the needs of the society for their participation in various professional roles. For example, the Messenger of Allah said regarding their going out for their needs:
(إنَّه قَد أُذِنَ لَكُنَّ أن تَخْرُجْنَ لحَاجَتِكُنَّ)
“It has been made permissible for you to go out for your needs” reported by al-Bukhari from ‘Aisha.
Of these needs is work to support oneself, as evident in what the Messenger of said to the aunt of Jabir ibn Abdillah. Also, married women may need to help their husbands. Asma’ bint Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with her) used to help her husband az-Zubair (may Allah be pleased with him) with his work outdoors, and no one of the sahabah or more importantly the Prophet commented negatively on that.
The community may also need some women to go out for work. It has been reported widely in the authentic collections that women like ‘Aisha, Oum ‘Atiyah, Ar-Rubayye’ and others went out with the Muslim armies in various battles to handle the wounded and provide water for the men…etc. We need Muslim physicians, nurses, teachers, among many other specialties. Working outside may not be only permitted for women, but at times very encouraged. For example, it may be discouraged for an experienced obstetrician or teacher with no kids or grown up kids to stay at home.
While women may do some work from home without the permission of the husband, according to many scholars, the permissibility of their working outside was made contingent by the four madhâhib on the agreement of their husbands, unless he is unable to provide for the family or there was a prenuptial condition, then some of them maintained that he will not have the right to bar her from work outside. This writer encourages a detailed discussion before marriage to ensure a common understanding of these issues. I also encourage men to show flexibility after marriage even in the absence of prenuptial agreements, since many women seek careers nowadays for very valid reasons.
2- There are differential roles for men and women when it comes to work indoors and outdoors
While the Sharia permitted women to work outside their homes, it encourages the society to foster an environment where women (particularly those with children) are provided for and not obliged to leave their homes for outside jobs, so that they can properly attend to the needs of their households and children. Disregard of this principle will result in widespread harm. This harm will affect the mental, emotional and even physical wellbeing of the children and the entire family. Homes need anchors. Islam wants women to fulfill the important role of homemakers. Maids and babysitters are not adequate substitutes for rabbât al-buyoot (masters of the homes). Allah said:
(وَقَرْنَ فِي بُيُوتِكُنَّ وَلا تَبَرَّجْنَ تَبَرُّجَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ الْأُولَى وَأَقِمْنَ الصَّلاةَ وَآتِينَ الزَّكَاةَ وَأَطِعْنَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيراً) (الأحزاب:33)
“And stay in your houses, and make not a dazzling display, like that of the former Times of Ignorance; and establish regular Prayer, and give regular Charity; and obey Allah and His Messenger. And Allah only wishes to remove all abomination from you, ye members of the Family, and to make you pure and spotless.” al-Ahzab 33/33.
While the mothers of the believers were the primary addressees by this verse, the generality of ‘illah (cause) in the saying of Allah (st): {… Allah only wishes to remove all abomination from you …} indicates that Muslim women of all times are also being addressed.
It is also known that Islam exempted women from the congregational prayers, including Jumu’ah, because they may be busy at their homes, among other possible reasons.
While the issue of whether a woman is required to serve her husband is controversial, it is not controversial that she is required to obey him within reason, attend to his needs and the needs of his household. The Prophet (pbuh) said,
“… وَالْمَرْأَةُ رَاعِيَةٌ عَلَى بَيْتِ بَعْلِهَا وَوَلَدِهِ وَهِيَ مَسْئُولَةٌ عَنْهُمْ.”
“… A woman is a caretaker of the household of her husband and his children and shall be questioned about them…” [Reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim from Ibn Umar]
When we refer to homemaking in this article, we are not talking about cooking and cleaning. We are taking about managing that entire physical, social, and emotional space.
In a society where all women are expected to leave their homes for 8-5 jobs, much harm will ensue, including:
- Women will always be the ones to get pregnant and nurse their babies. This results in their collective inability to compete with men in the workplaces, resulting in their constant disappointment.
- Measuring the value of women by the height of their careers, which will be another injustice and cause of frustration. What about the value of homemaking and motherhood? How can a society survive if it devalues those roles that are essential for the wellbeing of humanity?
- Unfortunately, women will be expected to work outside, and most of them will still perform most of the household duties. (In the prophetic model, his wives stayed at home, and he still helped then with the housework.)
- Lack of support for the elderly, handicapped and children, since all the capable adults will be out working.
- The detrimental psychological, emotional, educational and behavioral consequences of children always going back to empty homes are incalculable.
- Unemployment for many men, resulting in many families having no income, while others have double income.
- Inflation as a result of the increased buying power of the wealthier families.
- Improper mixing and fitnah in many places where the proper etiquettes are not observed. This does not mean that it happens to every working woman. Pious women will be selective of their work environment and conduct themselves properly. However, the collective effects of mixing at the workplaces without observing the proper precautions (starting after the two world wars) has triggered the worst crisis of sexual morality. The Me-Too stories are only the tip of the iceberg.
It is known that the primary role for women has been homemaking, and that is across different times and cultures until the first half of the twentieth century and the aftermath of the two world wars. Now, the question is whether the changes the world has seen in the last century or so should end all differential male and female roles. This writer believes that women are allowed to work outside, and men are encouraged (and sometimes required) to help with childrearing and homemaking, but when it comes to identifying defaults for primary and secondary roles, men are solely required to provide for their families and women are mainly required to look after their children and households.
The first question we ought to ask ourselves is whether home making (which is not limited to the maintenance of the physical environment) is in fact an important role that requires some dedication. One may think that we can all have TV dinners, use babysitters and afterschool programs for the children, nursing homes for the elders, and long-term facilities for the sick and handicapped, and all capable adults should be out pursuing their career goals undistracted by any of that. While I am not categorically opposed to using those arrangements, I don’t think the way they are being utilized by the modern culture is helping the stability of families or the wellbeing of societies.
Secondly, If the work indoors is in fact important, and not in any way less valuable than that outdoors, whose primary role is it? Allah never said to men in the Quran to stay at home and there is no discouragement in the Sunnah of men going out often. In Islam, they are required to spend on their families, while women are not. Women are exempt from many outdoor roles in Islam out of recognition of their homes’ needs. The Malikis usually mention in their books that the Prophet (pbuh) assigned the work indoors to Fatima and the work outdoors to Ali. You don’t even need to cite this to apprehend the way roles were assigned among the first community. What should we say to a sister who wants to be a SAHM and her husband denies her that right? If we fault him, then we are recognizing the differential roles. If we fault him without recognizing the differential roles, then that would be the worst patch work between two value systems to create a monster of our own imprudent design. While this writer believes in mutual agreement and cooperation and realizes the multitudes of variables that affect our decisions, and only sees nobility in a man’s caring for his children while the wife is at work, he still believes that if we deny that there are differential roles, we will not only be denying the religious and historical conventions, but even natural determinants. Women are the ones who conceive babies, carry them for nine months, and then nurse them for one or two years. Women are more emotionally apt to take care of the young and sick. Men may have a greater aptitude to do certain outdoor jobs. A denial of all this is not supported by evidence, but dogma. Dogmatism is something that plagued humanity since our creation, and it is not limited to religious dogmatism as some people may think.
3- Conclusion and recommendations
Most of our Muslim women in the West work outside their homes and many do in the East as well. In Muslim-majority societies, those women should have facilitations and concessions by the society and should be surrounded by protection and respect. They should be allowed to work part time, when they desire that, so that they do not fall short from discharging their responsibilities towards their own households. It is their husbands’ obligation to help them with the housework if they will expect them to contribute financially to the family. It is upon the women to not sacrifice the values of Islam for work. Of those is the value of modesty. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) said,
“إِنَّ لِكُلِّ دِينٍ خُلُقًا وَإِنَّ خُلُقَ الْإِسْلَامِ الْحَيَاءُ”
“Verily, every religion has its signature characteristic, and the signature characteristic of Islam is modesty.” [Sunan Ibn Majah]
There are detailed Islamic ethics regarding gender interactions, and the preservation of modesty, particularly for women. Pious women will choose the right work environment and conduct themselves appropriately with all co-workers of both sexes. (The same applies to pious men who should also observe modesty.)
In summary, Muslim women may work and seek whatever careers they desire as long as they do not compromise their Islamic values, and they prioritize the needs of their homes and families. When they need to take time off or work part-time, their husbands should work harder to make up for the lost income. Muslim families with chronic dependence on two incomes should wean themselves from that – as much as possible.
The following is a quotation from the resolutions of the Sixth AMJA convention:
“In conclusion, we must heed the precautionary measures taken to safeguard the moral values of Muslim society, established by Islamic law, such as virtue, chastity, covering and protection, while taking into consideration the need for men and women to interact in various spaces, as well as the need to enable a woman to get what is beneficial to her and to benefit her family and her Ummah.”
Allah knows best.