Right to work

 Islam has allocated the management of the home as a woman's primary role, in which she takes care of her family, raises and educates her children, and caters for the needs of her husband. The Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him)) said, "A woman is a shepherd in her husband's home, and she will be held accountable for that.''

       Regardless of her own financial situation, her maintenance is the responsibility of her father or husband with no obligation upon her to seek employment. It is perhaps due to this privilege that the mainstay of her work is within her home, although, her work is honored, being equivalent to fighting in the way of Allah.

      Despite the lofty position bestowed upon the woman in the home, Islam does not prevent her from working. She has been afforded the right to buy and sell while delegating others to do her bidding. It is due to her business interaction with others that permits her to uncover her face and hands. According to jurists, there is a need for revealing the face during buying and selling, and for revealing the hands while giving and taking. According to Al-Ikhtiyafr, it is not permissible for a man to look upon a woman except at her face and hands which is deemed necessary for exchange and recognition, that is, only if there is no one who can carry out transactions on her behalf.

    There are many legal texts which establish the legality of a woman to work. In the case of a married woman, it is permissible to work although her husband has the right to prevent her. However, the husband's preventative ability is revoked if he is unable to provide for her himself. It is, in accordance with Nihayah al-Muhtaj, the most preponderant view that in the case of inability the husband is afforded a period of three days in which he may secure a realistic means of income. If he fails to do so, the wife reserves the right to leave for work without the husband's permission, although the hours of such work should be in keeping with daylight hours. This right, which may be exercised on the morning of the fourth day, is legitimate even if she is rich, with the husband reserving no right to prevent her as her afforded right is to be provided for.

         In another manual of jurisprudence, Muntaha Al-Irafdat, we find that in the case of a husband failing to provide for his wife, she may choose either to dissolve the marriage or to remain with him but she is authorized to refuse sexual relations. If she does not prevent him from having intercourse with her, then he cannot prevent her from going out to earn a livelihood, and he has no right to confine her at home with his difficult situation if she does not demand for the dissolution of the marriage. For, confining her may lead to harming her through a lack of sustenance. This is regardless of the fact that she is rich or poor. The husband only has right to confine her at home if he provides her with sustenance and essential needs. Similarly, Fath al-Qadeer states: "If a woman is a midwife or has a right upon others (and vice versa), she can go out with or without permission.'' A similar opinion is mentioned in Hashiyah Sa'di Jalabi. However, Ibn 'Abidin said after quoting from Fath al-Qadeer, "Al-Bahr recorded on the authority of Khaniyah that going out should depend on her husband's permission since his rights are given precedence over collective obligation.''

     It is permissible for a woman to invest her finances in a partnership with others in whatever legal means she desires without permission. According to Jawahir Iklil, a wife can either lend money or invest it without being prevented since it is a form of trade according to the consensus of the scholars. If a woman works with her husband, whatever she earns belongs to her. In al-Fatafwa al-Bazzaziyyah, the Imam gave the verdict that any money earned through a co-venture between husband and wife would be regarded as the husband's, unless it is possible to discern her share, in which case her share is solely hers. A Fatwa was also given concerning a trainee woman whose husband sometimes helped in picking up spikes of grain.

Each of them should have a half of whatever they were able to pick.

                                   A father should nurture his daughter upon the dignity of work. In Hashiyah Ibn 'Abidin, it is mentioned that a father may entrust his daughter to a woman who can teach her sewing and embroidery.