In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

Why the Woman Is Commanded to Stay in Her Home

Appendix B of Four Essays on the Obligation of Veiling carries the title “The Obligation of Women Staying Home.” It is one of the appendices the translator added to the book: a short collection of scholarly statements gathered around a single command of Allah, “And stay in your homes” (Qur’an 33:33). On a few pages it sets down the explanations of Al-Haafidh Ibn Katheer, Imaam Abu Bakr Al-Jassaas, Imaam Al-Qurtubee, Imaam Ash-Shawkaanee, Imaam Ibn Qudaamah, Shaikh-ul-Islaam Ibn Taimiyyah, and Ibn Hajr, together with two narrations from the time of the Prophet ﷺ, and it ends by gathering the statements into four short points.

What follows presents the appendix in its own order: the command and what it means, who the command reaches, going out for a need, the masjid and asking permission, the husband’s permission, and the four points the appendix itself draws at the end. The scholars’ words are quoted where they are given, and the appendix is summarized faithfully where it is not quoted.

Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan, in his book Rulings Pertaining to Muslim Women, names the pressure that this command answers. In the third section of his General Laws chapter, on the desires of the enemies of Islaam to strip the Muslim woman of her honour and rights, he writes:

“For this reason, they have tried hard to remove the woman from her home to join the men in the workplace, side by side, or to serve men as nurses in hospitals, as hostesses on planes, as teachers or students in mixed classrooms, as actresses in theatres, singers, as presenters in various forms of media, spreading fitna (corruption) with her voice and her appearance.”

A little further on in the same section, he names what followed:

“Because of these dangerous developments, the woman has been removed from her original role in the house. As a result, the husband is obligated to find a maid to bring up his children and to run the affairs of the house. This has in turn caused much fitna, and produced many more evils.”

The Command and What It Means

Allah said to the wives of His Prophet ﷺ: “And stay in your homes and do not expose yourselves indecently as was done in the Days of Ignorance” (Qur’an 33:33). Al-Haafidh Ibn Katheer explains the command: “It means that they remain in their homes and not come out except for a necessity. And from the legislated necessities is a woman’s attendance of the prayer in the masjid” (Mukhtasar Tafseer Ibn Katheer, vol. 3, pp. 93-94, as the book’s footnote records). Imaam Abu Bakr Al-Jassaas states its force just as plainly: “This ayah provides clear proof that women are obligated to stay in their homes and are forbidden to come out from them” (Ahkaam-ul-Qur’aan, vol. 3, p. 325, as the book’s footnote records). And Imaam Ash-Shawkaanee settles its meaning: “Its correct meaning is that Allah commanded the women to reside and remain in their homes” (Fat’h-ul-Qadeer, vol. 4, p. 395, as the book’s footnote records).

Shaykh ‘Abdur-Rahman ibn Nasir as-Sa’di explains the same two clauses in his Tafsir as-Sa’di, and he gives the reason the staying itself protects her, and what the second clause gathers under itself:

“(Stay in your homes) that is, remain there because that is safer and more protecting for you.”

“(and do not flaunt your charms as was done during the former [times of] ignorance) that is, do not go out often, wearing adornment or perfume, as was the custom among the people of the former times of ignorance, who had no knowledge or religious commitment. All of this is aimed at warding off evil and that which leads to it.”

Given to the Prophet’s Wives, Binding on Every Woman

The words were spoken first to the Prophet’s ﷺ wives, and Imaam Al-Qurtubee explains why no believing woman stands outside them:

“This ayah: ‘And stay in your homes’ is a command for women to remain in their homes. Although the speech is directed to the Prophet’s wives, women other than them enter into the meaning of the ayah. This is true unless there is a proof that contradicts the general inclusion of (all) women. But how can this be, when the Religion is overflowing with (proofs that indicate) that the women would remain in their homes and refrain from going out, except due to a necessity?”

(Tafseer Al-Qurtubee, vol. 14, p. 179, as the book’s footnote records). The translator’s own footnote on the passage makes the same point, that although the commands in this ayah are directed to the Prophet’s ﷺ wives, they apply to all the women in general. Al-Qurtubee also said: “All the etiquettes in this ayah were taught to the wives of the Prophet, so that they may safeguard their chastity. All Muslim women are obligated to follow these commandments.”

She Goes Out for Her Needs

Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen, in his explanation of Riyaad as-Saaliheen, draws the measure of her going out from this same verse: “Consequently, the best place for the woman is her house, she not go out except due to necessity or dire need.”

Staying in the home never meant that a woman does not come out at all. ‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, reported:

“Sawdah (the Prophet’s wife) once went out to answer the call of nature after it was made obligatory to observe the Hijaab. She was a fat lady and everybody that knew her before could recognize her. So ‘Umar bin Al-Khattaab saw her and said: ‘O Sawdah! By Allah, you cannot hide yourself from us, so think of a way by which you cannot be recognized when going out.’ Sawdah returned while Allah’s Messenger was in my house taking his supper and a bone covered with meat was in his hand. She entered and said: ‘O Allah’s Messenger! I went out to answer the call of nature and ‘Umar said to me so and so.’ Then Allah inspired him, and when the state of inspiration was over and the bone was still in his hand as he had not put it down, he said (to Sawdah): ‘Verily, you (women) have been allowed to go out for your needs’”

(Saheeh Al-Bukhaaree (Eng.), vol. 6, no. 318, as the book’s footnote records). So the permission is real, and it is measured: she goes out for her needs, as Ibn Katheer said, and the same verse that gives the command forbids the display of the Days of Ignorance in the going out.

Asking Permission, and the Masjid

One need is named on its own: the prayer in the masjid. Saalim reported from his father that the Prophet ﷺ said: “If the wife of one of you asks permission to go to the masjid, he should not prevent her” (Saheeh Al-Bukhaaree (Eng.), vol. 6, no. 318, as the book’s footnote records). Imaam Al-Bukhaaree placed this hadeeth under his chapter entitled: “A woman asking permission from her husband to go out to the masjid and elsewhere.” Ibn Hajr explains what Al-Bukhaaree intended by that heading: “Al-Bukhaaree compared the masjid with any place beside it, so the combination between the two is clear. In all cases, however, it is conditional upon the absence of fitnah” (Fat’h-ul-Baaree, vol. 9, p. 328, as the book’s footnote records). And Imaam Ash-Shawkaanee said: “There is no harm in a woman attending the congregational prayer in the masjid” (Nail-ul-Awtaar, vol. 2, p. 339, as the book’s footnote records).

Shaykh al-Fawzan opens the fifth item of his chapter on the woman and her Salaat (prayer) in Rulings Pertaining to Muslim Women with the other half of the ruling, on the hadeeths of Saheeh Muslim [the authentic collection] and of Ahmad and Abu Dawud:

“It is permissible for the women to leave their homes and go and pray in the Masjid as the men do, although it is better for them to pray in their houses. Muslim reported in his Saheeh, ‘Do no forbid the female servants of Allah from the houses of Allah.’ He also said: ‘Do not prevent the women from praying in the Masjids, but their houses are better for them.’ Reported by Ahmad and Abu Dawud. So it is better for the women to remain in their homes and pray because it is more concealing.”

Her Husband’s Permission

Beyond the masjid, her goings out rest on her husband’s permission. Imaam Ibn Qudaamah said:

“A husband may prevent his wife from going out of his home to places where she may need to go regardless if she wants to visit her parents or return to them or attend the funeral prayer of one of them. Imaam Ahmad said concerning a woman who has a husband and a sick mother: ‘Obedience to her husband is more binding on her than her mother, unless he gives her permission’”

(Al-Mughnee, vol. 7, p. 21, as the book’s footnote records). Shaikh-ul-Islaam Ibn Taimiyyah carries the ruling to every calling that might take her out:

“It is not permissible for a wife to come out of her home unless she has the permission of her husband. And it is not permissible for anyone to enjoin this on her and detain her from her husband, regardless if she is serving as a nursing mother, a midwife or any other vocation. If she goes out of her husband’s home without his permission, she is being undutiful (to her husband), disobedient to Allah and His Messenger, and deserving of punishment”

(Majmoo’-ul-Fataawaa, vol. 32, p. 281, as the book’s footnote records).

The Four Points the Appendix Draws

The appendix closes by gathering all of the statements above into four points, in its own words:

“Allah commanded all Muslim women to remain in their homes.”

“Women are allowed to leave their homes for necessities.”

“They must get their husband’s or male-guardian’s permission when leaving the house.”

“Going to the masjid constitutes a necessity and the husband should not prevent her from going, if she asks.”

Key Lessons

The command to stay in the home was spoken to the wives of the Prophet ﷺ, and every believing woman is inside its meaning, as Al-Qurtubee explains, because the Religion is full of proofs that women remain in their homes and come out only for a necessity.
Staying home is her base, not a ban on ever leaving it. She comes out for a necessity, and a woman’s attendance of the prayer in the masjid is one of the legislated necessities, as Ibn Katheer names it.
Her going out is governed, not free. ‘Umar’s words to Sawdah and the answer of the Prophet ﷺ stand side by side: women are allowed to go out for their needs, and that going out is no occasion for the display of the Days of Ignorance.
Permission orders the matter. For the masjid, a husband should not prevent his wife when she asks; for her other goings out, his permission comes first, and the whole of it is conditional upon the absence of fitnah, as Ibn Hajr notes.
No duty or job outside the home overrides this. Even visiting a sick mother waits on her husband’s permission, and no one may take a wife out of her husband’s home without it, whatever her work may be.

References

Four Essays on the Obligation of Veiling, by Ibn Baz, Ibn Uthaymeen, al-Fawzan, and Zayd al-Madkhalee, Al-Ibaanah Book Publishing, Third Edition, 2008: Appendix B, printed pp. 92-94, from the appendices “A Collection of Scholarly Statements Added by the Translator” (printed p. 89).

Rulings Pertaining to Muslim Women, by Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan, Darussalam, Second Edition, June 2003, ISBN 9960-347-29-5, trans. Burhan Loqueman: General Laws chapter, section 3, printed p. 16; and Laws Pertaining To The Woman And Her Salaat chapter, item 5, printed pp. 64-65.

Tafsir as-Sa’di, by Shaykh ‘Abdur-Rahman ibn Nasir as-Sa’di, International Islamic Publishing House, English Edition 1, 2018, trans. Nasiruddin al-Khattab: Volume 8, on Qur’an 33:33, printed p. 24 (the verse in his printing at printed p. 22).

Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin (Sharh Riyaad as-Saaliheen), by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-‘Uthaymeen: Volume 1, printed p. 299, in the explanation of the hadeeth on abstinence.

Four Essays on the Obligation of Veiling and Rulings Pertaining to Muslim Women print the divine name as “Allaah”; on this page it is spelled “Allah”, by the site’s spelling decision.

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