Can women go out to work? Shaykh Muhammad ibn Hizaam

بســـم اللــه الرحــمــن الـرحـــيــم

📩 Question:

The questioner says: Is it permissible for me to work as a cleaner, cleaning other women's homes; if I make it a condition that they (or anyone else) is not present in the house while I am cleaning? Is my line of work permissible?

📝 Answer:

Yes, it's permissible. However, it's better for a woman not to take up work, as this is a man's duty. If, for example, she is a helpless widow, she should seek to get married so she doesn't have to go out and work, as the husband will take care of her financially. So it's better for a woman to remain inside her home. 

This is if she needs to work. 

But if she doesn't need to work, then it's disliked for her to go out to work. Rather, it's recommended for her to stay at home, as Allah, the exalted, says: 

{وَقَرۡنَ فِی بُیُوتِكُنَّ وَلَا تَبَرَّجۡنَ تَبَرُّجَ ٱلۡجَـٰهِلِیَّةِ ٱلۡأُولَىٰۖ}

"And stay in your houses, and do not display yourselves like that of the times of ignorance."

[Surat Al-Ahzab 33]

If the Prophet ﷺ instructed her to pray at home and encouraged her with this (rather than going to the masjid), then how what about going out to work?! This is something disliked. 

Translated by:

Abu Ishaq Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ba Alawi 

Click to subscribe:

T.me/ibnhezamen 

Original Fatwa:

https://t.me/ibnhezam/7909