Yes, Women Can Work! (Part 3)

by Khadeejah Islam

Click to view Part 1 and Part 2 of this series

Areas where women can lend their productivity

There are many areas where women can work. It can be at home or outside the home. It can be on a small scale. It can be freelance (not working for a fixed employer). It can be a field which you love. It can be paid or non-paid. The following are some (there might be many other) options, out of which, the first is obligatory and the rest are voluntary (you have the option of choosing). The voluntary options have to be chosen after consultation with the guardian (whether it is father or husband) and also after a deep assessment of the family needs, for instance, if you just had a baby, it is better to stay with him/her than to venture outside the home. During those times, you can still be productive by choosing the voluntary options which are home-based. Whatever you choose to do, do it for the sake of Allah alone; do it for an Islamic cause; and do it within the Islamic boundaries.

• Home-making: “Islam regards her role in society as a mother and a wife as the most sacred and essential one. Neither maids nor baby-sitters can possibly take the mother's place as the educator of an upright, complex free, and carefully-reared children. Such a noble and vital role, which largely shapes the future of nations, cannot be regarded as ‘idleness’.” [1].

• Business: You have a plethora of options regarding products/services which you can sell and base your business upon. Remember to be creative. That will add an extra boost to your business insha’Allah. The following are examples:

1. Clothing (including hijab materials). This is good for those who have interest in fashion designing.
2. Home-made food items, such as pickles, confectionery, etc., or food-chain franchise.
3. House-hold items. This covers a wide range of goods, such as candles, quilts, dry flowers, crystal/glass items, etc.
4. Jewellery designing. This is still an unconventional field. The job entails constructing exquisite pieces of jewellery using precious stones and metal ores.
5. Selling exceptional skills that you may have (in the form of services), such as being a writer, a photographer, a make-up artist/hair stylist, a doctor, an architect, a teacher, etc.

• Writing/Journalism: You can either publish your own book, or work as a journalist. “One should be careful to ensure that the style, contents and goal are beneficial and that the story helps to explain something about Islam and serves as an effective means of teaching and guiding people.” [2].

• Halaal Photography: Consult a local scholar to know the various rulings on photography. You can take photos of the nature and inanimate objects.

• Medicine: “Islam calls us to learn all kinds of beneficial knowledge. Branches of knowledge vary in status, the highest of which is knowledge of sharee’ah, then knowledge of medicine, then the other fields of knowledge.” [3]. We are badly in need of female doctors. I have been to a hospital recently and I was quite disappointed to see a shortage of female doctors. I am sure most of us are comfortable in discussing “girly” issues with female doctors only.

• Architecture: Apart from designing the framework of various structures, such as buildings and bridges, you can also engage in interior designing.

• Teaching: I feel this is a noble task. You can choose to impart either beneficial secular or Islamic knowledge/skills, or both. There are a variety of subjects to choose from.

• Event Management: You can take the charge of organizing an event, whether it is a wedding or an Islamic lecture, and managing its decoration, its food, its crowd, etc. It will be especially gratifying if you are able to pull off an event at a minimal cost and much to the pleasure of the attendees.

• Film-Making: I think this is one neglected area. We have a shortage of Islamic films and documentaries. If more people take up projects in this area, we will have sufficient halaal entertainment. This could also be an effective da’wah tool.

• Social Working: This is mostly non-paid, although a few organizations may pay you for volunteering. You have many causes to support, for instance, breast cancer awareness campaign, suicide prevention, alleviation of poverty and unemployment, da’wah projects, end to domestic violence and repression of women, AIDS awareness campaign, helping the disabled, and the list is really endless.

• Environmentalist: Again, this is a neglected area. We have few people who are taking actions to recycle, to keep the world cleaner and greener, to conserve water and electricity, to reduce global warming and pollution, to protest against massive tree-felling or hill-cutting, and to take care of birds and animals. “If any Muslim plants a tree or sows a field, and a human, bird or animal eats from it; it shall be reckoned as charity from him.” [4].

• Art: There are many options of halaal art. You can engage in Islamic calligraphy, glass painting, and drawing pictures of nature, abstract, or inanimate objects.

• Web Development: You can develop a website for a company and even choose to manage its content.

Footnotes:

[1] The Status of Women in Islam, Dr. Jamal Badawi. http://islamswomen.com/articles/status_of_women_in_islam.php

[2] http://islamqa.com/en/ref/4505/

[3] http://islamqa.com/en/ref/10471/

[4] Saheeh Al-Bukhari, Saheeh Muslim. http://www.islamreligion.com/category/98/

Please share your views on this series below so we can continue to bring you more beneficial content, inshaAllah :)

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Yes, Women Can Work (Part 1)

Yes, Women Can Work (Part 1)

by Khadeejah Islam

“Is education like M.B.B.S. (or MD) allowed for females where they examine naked males? Should a woman be permitted to practice medicine when there are so many males who can do that job, and when the woman will have to work from 9 A.M. to 4 P.M.? Will such a woman be able to give time to the family? Should we allow our women (Muslim women) to go out and expose themselves to the society?” 

I was taken aback when a brother posted this question at a forum, not because it questioned working women, but because it implied a certain misconception of the definition of work. The idea that Muslim women should not work is still plaguing a large section of the Muslim Ummah. Therefore, I decided to explore this topic and illustrate the following points:

• The permissibility of women working outside the home in the views of Islamic scholars.

• The actual definition of work and how it relates to productivity both at home and outside the home.

• The need to be productive and hence, working.

• Similarities between house-wife and “working” women and how they both work.

• Areas where women can lend their productivity.

• How to encourage productivity of women.

The permissibility of women working outside the home in the views of Islamic scholars

“If a woman has professional skills which not every woman possesses, and which are needed by other woman and society as a whole, then it is permissible for her to practice her profession outside the home, so long as she adheres to the conditions prescribed by sharee’ah and has the permission of her legal guardian. It is permissible for a female doctor to open a clinic outside her home for the treatment of women and children. Such clinics make it easy for sick women to come to a female doctor; hence they no longer have to uncover their ‘awrah before a male doctor when they need treatment. In principle, men should be treated by male doctors and nurses, and women by female doctors and nurses. There should be no mixing of the sexes in medical treatment, except when it is necessary and as long as there is no fear of temptation.” [1].

“There is no decree in Islam which forbids woman from seeking employment whenever there is a necessity for it, especially in positions which fit her nature and in which society needs her most. Examples of these professions are nursing, teaching (especially for children), and medicine. Moreover, there is no restriction on benefiting from woman's exceptional talent in any field.” [2]

“In a truly Islamic society, there must be women physicians, women nurses, women teachers.” [3].

“The Quranic verse: ‘remain at your homes…’ (Quran 33:33) has been misinterpreted by many, and so has the right of stewardship or Qawama. In many instances we see men objecting to women's participation in Da'wah and thus preventing them from fulfilling their role toward their fellow Muslims and to the larger society in general.” [4].

“Even if a doctor does not treat women except in cases of necessity, he must learn how to treat both sexes, because a woman may not be able to find a female doctor in a certain specialty or in a certain city. Hence there is nothing wrong with the doctor studying drawings that show the human body, whether they are of men or women.” [5].

The actual definition of work and how it relates to productivity both at home and outside the home

What crosses your mind when you think of a Muslim working woman? A scantily-clad, arrogant woman who has no consideration for her family? This is where we make the mistake. We think of working women as defined by the media of secular countries. We do not think of them according to the Islamic standards. We do not imagine a pious Muslimah working diligently outside her home and balancing family duties as well.

The word ‘work’ has eleven different meanings. It is defined as an “employment, occupation, etc., especially as means of earning money.” [6]. It is also defined as an “application of effort to a purpose.” [7]. 

The latter definition is worth noting. It does not specify the purpose and it does not mention the earning of money as a reason why one would choose to apply one’s effort (or to work). Therefore, a Muslim woman can apply her efforts to any purpose, both at home and outside her home. When a Muslimah tends to an ailing relative, she is indeed working. When a Muslimah rears her children in the best of manners, she is considered to be working as well. When a Muslimah volunteers for a beneficial cause, she is working.

In conclusion, it does not matter if the task undertaken is a paid one or not, and if it is done at home or not, as long as the woman is being productive, she is working. In that case, every woman is a working woman. This should put a lot of misconceptions at rest.

To be continued insha’Allah…In the mean time please leave your views on this article in comments section. We would love to hear your feedback! Thank you.

Footnotes:

[1] http://islamqa.com/en/ref/286/

[2] The Status of Women in Islam, Dr. Jamal Badawi. http://islamswomen.com/articles/status_of_women_in_islam.php

[3] http://islamswomen.com/articles/do_muslim_women_have_rights.php

[4] Women in Da'wah, 'Abdul Latif M. Al-Hassan and Sumayyah Bint Joan. http://islamswomen.com/articles/women_in_dawah.php

[5] http://islamqa.com/en/ref/40054/

[6] Oxford Compact Dictionary and Thesaurus (edited by Julia Elliott), page-890.

[7] Oxford Compact Dictionary and Thesaurus (edited by Julia Elliott), page-890.

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