Waleed Basyouni – Ask The Imam- Balancing Faith & Ambitions

Waleed Basyouni
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of women working in the workforce and meeting job requirements. They stress the need for women to avoid workplace discrimination and avoid dressing up outside the home. The responsibility of the husband for all household expenses is discussed, as it is difficult for women to work in divorce and the risk of a resolution in divorce is highlighted. The responsibility of the husband for all household expenses is emphasized, along with the importance of protecting household financially and protecting contributions.
AI: Transcript ©
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As-salamu alaykum, Shaykh.

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Wa alaykum as-salam.

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So, how are you this morning?

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Alhamdulillah.

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I'm doing great.

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So, we have a question about women in

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the workforce.

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What conditions do they need to meet, Muslim

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women that is, and, you know, are there

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any restrictions?

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What are these things that need to be

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known for women to be able to work

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outside the home?

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Okay.

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Bismillah, alhamdulillah, salatu was-salamu alayhi wa sahbihi

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wa man walahu ba'ad.

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I think it is important to recognize that

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women being in the workforce, being part of

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building the society and working, is not something

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foreign to our history.

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It is not something strange or not something

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just in the modern days happened.

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But it is something you will find from

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the time of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa

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sallam.

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You'll find in his time women worked, had

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business, and started with Khadija, she had her

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own business, and the Prophet worked for her,

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traded on her behalf, and that continued after

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Islam as well.

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For example, Jabir, he said about Khalita, that

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she used to own a farm, and she

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used to go and watch the collections of

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the harvest, the dates, and things of that

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nature.

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So you'll find Umm Atiyah said, I was

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with the Prophet in seven wars, and I

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used to work taking care of the wounded,

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and bringing water.

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Or women worked with their husband, like Zubair

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and Asma, they worked together in the field.

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You will find Umm Shifa used to sell

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perfumes.

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You know one of the Sahabiyat used to

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make food after Jumu'ah, people after Salah

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they come and eat, even one of the

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Sahabi said, one of my favorite things about

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Friday is that I go eat at her

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place.

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It's like what we call today like a

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restaurant type of thing.

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Mu'adh actually, the one who sells perfumes.

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Umm Shifa is one, Umar appointed, as Ibn

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Hazm mentioned, to look after the market and

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see what people doing in the market, correct,

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cheating.

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We know the story of the one who

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used to sell milk, and she was, and

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then I tried to mix the milk with

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water, and Umar heard her.

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So what I'm saying is, from the early

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time you'll find women played a role in

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contributing to the workforce.

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The general rule, the rules that apply to

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men and women are the same when it

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comes to work.

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The nature of work has to be halal,

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it has to be a safe environment.

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Also here there is one extra thing that

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has to be taken into consideration, which is

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that when women work, that also has to

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be with an agreement with her wali, her

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husband.

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She just don't ignore, because she's a wife,

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and she's a mother, you know.

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She just say, you know what, I'm not

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going to be, I don't care about the

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house, I don't care about children, I'm going

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to go work.

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That something has to be approved and agreed

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upon between her and her husband before she

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go to work.

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Also, as we know, there are certain restrictions

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when it comes to certain rules for women

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and men.

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For instance, the issue of khalwa, and you

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know, I know it's applied to men, but

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also a man is not allowed to be

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alone with a woman, and these things, a

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lot of time I get questions about them.

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Also, for example, if this job were required

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from her not to have her hijab, or

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cannot maintain her hijab in this case, this

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would not be allowed.

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The dress code is different from men and

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women, but in the vast majority of works,

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I believe it's possible to accommodate the Islamic

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ruling, in my opinion, except maybe in certain

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element or certain areas.

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So these are judged by itself, like individually,

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case by case.

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But also, one of the thing is the

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issue of traveling, because the majority of the

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buqa, rahimahullah, said women are not allowed to

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travel without mahram.

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So if this job required from her to

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travel without mahram, this will not be allowed.

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Another thing that I will add to this,

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as long as the job will not affect

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negatively her role as a mother and as

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a wife, because you know what, your children

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have nobody else, but that job that you

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do, there is someone else will do this

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job.

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But your children, nobody else will raise them

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better than you.

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And life is not just about money, it's

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just not about making money.

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For me, I always would love to see

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my sister working, but not because of career

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or making money, as much as it is

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about, first, it builds high self-esteem, contribute

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to side in general, but if this is

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in the expense of losing your children and

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not taking care of your children or your

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husband or your marriage fall apart, that's not

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a good trait.

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And that's not Islamically correct.

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If it's about working, so I became like

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nidd, I became like, you know, a rival

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to your husband.

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You know what, I make money like you

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and no different between us.

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That's also wrong, Islamically not correct.

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Final point I want to say in regard

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to woman who is working.

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If she works, there has to be a

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clarity and agreement.

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This is my advice to anyone about to

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get married to make sure that you discuss

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this before marriage.

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So not like surprise, surprise.

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Hey, I work.

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I want to work.

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So we agree on this.

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What's going to happen with our children?

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Have this conversation with your husband.

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So we'll not have a conflict later.

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Number one.

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Number two, if you're going to work, are

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you going to contribute?

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What kind of contribution financially you're going to

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be doing to the house?

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That's a very good point here.

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Yeah.

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So we know that the husband is responsible

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for all the necessary.

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I mean, the main major expenses of the

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household, right?

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Yeah.

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So if she works, he's still responsible.

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You're right.

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But he's not responsible for the expenses associated

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with your work.

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So, for example, if you're going to be

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traveling or guys, a car, you know, you

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need a phone, you need a laptop for

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your work.

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This became on you.

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And also, it will be something that it

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may be agreed upon.

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If you're going to work, you contribute a

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certain amount of money to the expenses of

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the house since you earn it or to

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the children or whatever.

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That's something that should be discussed as well.

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So there is no dispute.

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Allah forbid, in the case of divorce, if

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she'd been working and contributing to, for example,

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paying the mortgage or paying the car payments,

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you know what I'm saying?

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That should be sorted out.

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Because in divorce, you cannot say, you know

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what?

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You have nothing.

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Or after death, this is her own money

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and so forth.

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So everybody has his own earning.

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And that's their own money.

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You know, I know we say, you know,

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your money is your money and my money

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is my money.

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Then she would say, and my money is

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my money and your money is my money.

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You know, but I'm happy to

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say that to my wife anyway.

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Yes, that's wonderful.

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Now, the ayah that you mentioned is really

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interesting in this context, because Allah subhanahu wa

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ta'ala says to men is that which

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they have earned and to women is that

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which they have earned.

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That means there is, you know, a subtle

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indication that there may be a time where

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women will work from the context of the

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ayah.

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I don't mean it's really the direct connotation

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of the ayah, because it could be that

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she earned it from inheritance or something else,

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right?

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Absolutely.

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I think it's worth mentioning this as well,

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Shah.

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I don't know if you come across those,

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but there is this notion that says, since

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I'm earning and I'm contributing money like him,

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the husband has no any more qawamah in

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the house.

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Because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, it means

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he's in charge, right?

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And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala put him

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in charge because the money that he takes.

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When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mention in

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the Quran, because of what they spend is

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not to limit the qawamah to this reason.

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Yeah, not restricted to this.

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Yeah, it is one of the reasons.

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Right.

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And generally speaking, in my experience, when you

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ask a man, why would you want to

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work and make money?

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He said, immediately, so I can take care

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of my family.

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Right.

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When you ask most of women, actually, who

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are in the workforce, why you work?

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She said, so I can take care of

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my stuff.

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I don't need to ask my husband anymore

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about my stuff.

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That's a good point, but also.

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So it's about my stuff, while the man

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is about the family.

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Still, even when she works, in my opinion,

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he is responsible.

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He is the one who should spend on

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the house.

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Let's assume he doesn't.

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He does not lose the qawamah because the

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qawamah, it happened inherently because he is the

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husband.

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And it's exactly like if I hire someone

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to take care of the children, like a

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babysitter, and I have someone to get a

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formula milk.

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Does not take away your status as a

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mother.

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That's right.

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Very true.

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Because inherently, the status of you is preserved.

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Right.

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And nobody questions that, but yeah.

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So I think it's important for us to

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keep that.

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Sorry to make the answer long, but I

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think it's worth it.

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Yeah, but again, I don't want to prolong

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it, but there's this, because you mentioned that

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when you ask a woman, why would you

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work?

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She would say, so I can take care

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of my own stuff.

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Which is true, but I have asked many

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women that why do they work?

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And they say it's for their security.

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Because sometimes with what they see sometimes in

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broken marriages and being in a state where

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she's divorced and has nobody to, has no

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other recourse but work.

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So she finds herself equipped with the ability

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to work.

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So she can really protect her family and

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protect the household when it has already crumbled

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because of the divorce.

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So I think that's another answer that-

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And definitely there is a lot of woman

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work to contribute to the house.

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Right.

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100%.

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No, I have no doubt about that.

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To help with the expenses.

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Life is very hard these days, expensive.

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So I'm not excluding that, but I'm saying

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it is a common thing that you find

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as well.

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I mean, and there are a lot of

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single mothers who really find themselves- Obligated

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to work.

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So that's another, that's for another conversation.

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Jazakallah Khair.

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It was really very insightful.

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Thank you.

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As-salamu alaykum.

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