Women's Work: Contrasting Viewpoints of Islam and the West - II

27/05/2014| IslamWeb

In Western countries, there is an emerging trend towards enacting laws aiming at the segregation of the two genders and defining separate places for each. This is due to the bad consequences that these countries have suffered from the free mixing between men and women in workplaces, educational institutions and so on.

Here are some examples of actions being taken in this direction:

• St. Hilda's College in Oxford University insisted on applying its policy of prohibiting the acceptance of any male student, and keeping this college exclusive for females only.

• In late March 1998, the U.S. Department of Defense (Pentagon) issued instructions to prevent any male soldier from being in solitude with a female soldier behind a closed door. This came as a reaction against the prevalence of sexual harassment scandals, and other scandals in various sectors of the army.
• The Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Defense made public a report on the effects of mixing of male and female students in the American Air Force college. He stated that a large proportion of female cadets were victims of sexual exploitation. This result was concluded from a report made by one of the academies, which has 659 female students. The academy's report asserted that the aim of the survey, which included most of its female cadets, is to shed light on the scope of the recent incidents of sexual harassment and to assess the atmosphere inside the academy. The draft of this report shows that 109 cadets, among the 579 surveyed cadets, said that they had experienced severe sexual assault. Forty-three other cadets said that they were victims of one case, at least, of completed or attempted rape during their career in the academy. The report also clarified that in spite of all these sexual harassment incidents, eighty per cent of the suspected cases went unreported.

Consequently, because of the enormity of the issue of sexual harassment and assault and because it has become a chief concern for discerning minds in Western communities, it turns into a major issue for candidates during elections. All the candidates promise to give it top priority if they win, due to the importance of this issue for their people. Although these shocking results contradict Western traditions in general and American traditions in particular, erstwhile American president George W. Bush announced that his government highly encourages the return to the principle of separating boys from girls in public schools. The Bush administration even promised to give more financial support to the schools that encourage segregation between boys and girls than the schools that insist on the mixed system. In addition to that, some Western countries have started enacting laws in an effort to encourage women to undertake the major task that they are attuned to instinctively, which is dedicating themselves to bringing up the young and running the household affairs – which is something that cannot be accomplished by anyone else. They have also legislated rules to impose paying regular salaries for those women who stay at home, devoting themselves to the care for their children and bringing them up.

Thus, we have seen the result of the distressful and unfortunate endeavor of these societies that claim progress and freedom. We see how they are trying their best in order not to continue going into this dark tunnel, in response to the calls of their intellectuals. On the other side, Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And abide in your houses and do not display yourselves as [was] the display of the former times of ignorance.} [Quran 33:33].

Why do we read this verse without compliance or fulfillment? Why do we fail to understand it? Why did Allah The Almighty not order men to stay in their houses as well? Why is this command exclusively directed to women? Let us see what the scholars said about this verse:

The command for women to abide in their houses is not intended to impose a kind of house arrest on the woman where she stays restrained and is not allowed to leave it, as it is falsely claimed by some of those whose hearts are filled with evil. However, it is recommended that houses should be the main abode of women, and anything else is no more than an exception. This means that any activity for women outside the house cannot be considered a continuous or stable one, as it is primarily based on the need which should be carried out without exaggeration.
Look at how wonderful Islam is! We do not need all these statistics and surveys! One command in the Quran is sufficient for us: {And abide in your houses}. [Quran 33: 33].

Here are some important principles concerning women's work:

Firstly, women are supposed to abide in their houses.

Secondly, women do not carry the burden of going outside the house to earn a living -- which is something all Muslims have agreed upon through the ages. They are of the view that women are exempt from going out to seek the means of living and provisions. The same concept was also common in the past nations, as is reflected through the evidences in this matter. For example, this is clear in the context of the story of Moosa (Moses), may Allah exalt his mention, in the Quran, when Allah the Almighty Says (what means): {And when he came to the well of Madyan, he found there a crowd of people watering [their flocks], and he found aside from them two women driving back [their flocks]. He said, “What is your circumstance?” They said, “We do not water until the shepherds dispatch [their flocks]; and our father is an old man. So he watered [their flocks] for them; then he went back to the shade and said, “My Lord, indeed I am, for whatever good You would send down to me, in need.} [Quran 28:23-24]

In this verse, the women's saying {and our father is an old man} means that there is no man in their house who can serve this purpose instead of them, as their father is an old man who is weakened by his old age and he is not fit for such task. Therefore, their circumstances have forced them to go out for watering their flocks.

For this reason, the Sharee'ah (Islamic law) has allowed the woman to take amiably from the wealth of her husband what suffices her and her children in case he does not sustain them properly. 'Aa'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, narrated that Hind, the mother of Mu'aawiyah, may Allah be pleased with them both, said to the Prophet, sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam, after the conquest of Makkah, "Abu Sufyan (her husband) is a miser. Am I allowed to take from his money secretly for my children?" The Prophet, sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam, said to her: "You and your sons may take what is sufficient reasonably and fairly." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] Abdullaah ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, also narrated that the Prophet, sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam, said: "It is enough sin for someone to prevent whomever he is sustaining from getting their food." [Muslim] Furthermore, Muslim scholars unanimously agree that the father has to assume the expenses of his children alone, without the participation of the mother. Most of the scholars have also mentioned that if the husband is reduced to poverty and becomes unable to sustain his family his wife has the choice of leaving him if she wants. All these rules have been legislated in order to let the woman carry out her main task of running the house, taking care of her children, and giving her husband his due rights as well.

Here is the answer for a question directed to the Standing Committee for Scientific Research and Issuing Fatwas about the rule of women's work in Islam in principle:

It is permissible for the woman in the Islamic Sharee'ah to work in the fields that suit her but with certain conditions. This work should be within the limits of what protects her honor and preserves her dignity. It should not be a cause of temptation for society, or a cause for spreading corruption among people and it should not be a cause for neglecting the due rights of her husband and her children, as she "is the guardian of her husband’s home and of his children and is responsible for them."