Women working only if there is pressing necessity?

[DefendingIslam]

Salam alaykum,

I heard from a few brothers that the only way in which a Muslim woman can work is if she gets permission from her guardian, is in a halal environment PLUS is in a case of necessity.

I find the last "condition" to be quite strange, since in most cases where there is "necessity", the guardian may not even be around the woman, and may not have been taking care of the woman as he should.

So I want to know whether this "necessity" condition is actually there, or whether the Muslim woman may work simply to have money of her own, specially since Islam does not require the husband to pay for certain things that we consider as being necessary in today's world (but are not considered to be necessary in Islamic Fiqh), such as healthcare, medicines, etc.

[Talib84]

What do you mean by necessity? If women only work if they dont have anyone to support them, then who will teach at Muslim girl schools, and where will you find a Muslim women doctor to go to etc.

[Abu_Bilal]

Assalam Alaikum.

This issue is very clear, just like the issue of women traveling more than 48 miles without a mehram, which was discussed in detail in another thread.

According to the Shari'ah, the place of a woman is at home. If she is unmarried, her father has to support and maintain her. If she is married, her husband has to support and maintain her.

If her father or husband is unable to support her and there is no other support system for her, then she may seek employment to support herself and her dependants. In doing so, she must adhere to the laws of Hijaab. She may only work to fulfil her needs and until there is an alternative support for herself and her dependants. Once there is an alternative support for her needs to be fulfilled, she cannot continue working in a way that she is compelled to violate the laws of the Shari'ah. She will be excused by Shari'ah only due to necessity.

I am sure, that the modern enlightened muslims would have some problems with this issue too, just like beard, niqab, trousers above ankles, etc.

[seeker_ikb]

Assalam Alaikum.

This issue is very clear, just like the issue of women traveling more than 48 miles without a mehram, which was discussed in detail in another thread.

According to the Shari'ah, the place of a woman is at home. If she is unmarried, her father has to support and maintain her. If she is married, her husband has to support and maintain her.

If her father or husband is unable to support her and there is no other support system for her, then she may seek employment to support herself and her dependants. In doing so, she much adhere to the laws of Hijaab. She may only work to fulfil her needs and until there is an alternative support for herself and her dependants. Once there is an alternative support for her needs to be fulfilled, she cannot continue working in a way that she is compelled to violate the laws of the Shari'ah. She will be excused by Shari'ah only due to necessity as that relaxes prohibition only fill the need.

I am sure, that the modern enlightened muslims would have some problems with this issue too, just like beard, niqab, trousers above ankles, etc.

Mashallah ! Great Answer ! There is also a fatwa available at www.askimam.com about this.

[Talib84]

Once there is an alternative support for her needs to be fulfilled, she cannot continue working in a way that she is compelled to violate the laws of the Shari'ah

I did not get the impression that the brother was referring to jobs which violates the laws of sharia.

[Dhul-Qarnayn]

I've always been under the assumption that so long as no rules of Shariah are violated, and hijab/purdah can continue to be observed (segregation, clothing, etc), a woman, with permission of her husband (or father if unmarried) is free to fulfill the needs of her community which require women. Particularly women doctors and teachers.

It would require a special effort from the man to support such a woman though, as he would have to take care of all her needs not just in the home, but also at work, including transportation and all that.

EDIT: That's why I also believe it's beneficial for the community that people of similar education marry one another if circumstances allow. A male doctor would be better able to support a woman doctor. A husband and wife can teach at a school. I know of husband/wife teams that offer long distance classes for Islamic sciences in the West to women. The Mufti's wife usually winds up taking a very active role (or his daughters) in such situations where there are also female students.

EDIT #2: Other fields are also becoming easier for women to enter, particularly with the telecommuting technology available to us today which allows people to work from home, including in fields such as science/research especially. Although again there, it would be a lot easier if the husband and wife were in it together. This is often the case even in the West in science/research fields.

[cakeNbarfee]

Salam alaykum,
So I want to know whether this "necessity" condition is actually there, or whether the Muslim woman may work simply to have money of her own, specially since Islam does not require the husband to pay for certain things that we consider as being necessary in today's world (but are not considered to be necessary in Islamic Fiqh), such as healthcare, medicines, etc.

Are you saying that Islam does not require a husband to pay for healthcare and medicine for his wife???

[DefendingIslam]

Are you saying that Islam does not require a husband to pay for healthcare and medicine for his wife???

From my knowledge, this is the rule in Islam, that the husband is not obligated at all to take care of the medical expenses of his wife (except for pregnancy and childbirth). It would be nice for him to do so, but it is not obligatory.

If her father or husband is unable to support her and there is no other support system for her, then she may seek employment to support herself and her dependants. In doing so, she must adhere to the laws of Hijaab. She may only work to fulfil her needs and until there is an alternative support for herself and her dependants. Once there is an alternative support for her needs to be fulfilled, she cannot continue working in a way that she is compelled to violate the laws of the Shari'ah. She will be excused by Shari'ah only due to necessity.

I was refering to the case where the general laws of Shariah ARE NOT broken. Is "necessity" also a rule if, for example, the lady's other duties are not compromised?

These two comments by the members lead me to the following comment and question: The reason given why the husband is not required to take care of his is because Islam sees the woman as an independent financial entity.

So I ask: If this entity can only work when she is under great necessity or to take care of her expenses when she is very sick, this seems oxymoronic to me. How can a very sick person suddenly start working, except if it is to beg or the like? In every human society, sick people are taken care off, not told to start working to take care of themselves.

This is my viewpoint. Perhaps things can be clarified when "necessity" is defined, and when "suitable need for medication in Islam" in defined as well.

[cakeNbarfee]

From my knowledge, this is the rule in Islam, that the husband is not obligated at all to take care of the medical expenses of his wife (except for pregnancy and childbirth). It would be nice for him to do so, but it is not obligatory.

I'm completely gobsmacked!! Can you please provide some references?? Can a man who does not pay for his sick wife's medicines hold his head up in society?

[DefendingIslam]

I'm completely gobsmacked!! Can you please provide some references?? Can a man who does not pay for his sick wife's medicines hold his head up in society?

I found this in Reliance of the Traveller. I also saw it on askimam.org and sunnipath.com.

The thing is that Islam in this case is delineating the base minimum that a man has to give to his wife, not saying what is the proper thing for a happy relationship, or whether by not paying for medicines he will be respected or ridiculed in society.

Also, from what I understand, a man is not required to pay or even take any medicines for his own sickness, however bad that sickness may be, meaning that no one can force him to take it even if he were to die from the ailment. I may be wrong about this, so someone can clear this up if I have made a mistake.

I will look up for the answers from the sites. However, in the meantime I wanted to know about my own querries with respect to the situation I presented in my previous post.