Forbidding one's wife from working...

Is it permissible for a man to forbid his wife from working?

Assalamu alaykum

In the name of Allah, Most gracious Most Merciful

The husband has been considered the bread winner in Islam for his wife, children and other dependents. As such it is incumbent upon him to provide for them and not to force the wife to seek an additional income. The responsibility of the wife have also been clearly detailed in the Shar'ia [covered in previous posts on the Hanafi fiqh list, see: www.sunnipath.com, and many posts have explained the spirit of love and mercy, and consultation on which the marriage is to be based]. Her primary duty is as a mother and housewife.

There are great benefits and wisdoms in this setup which cannot be gained by both the couples unnecessarily being in active employment. A couple who work many a time delay or even avoid having children for the sake of pursuing their careers and if they do have children then anytime they are left to be looked after by nannies. The kids are thus deprived of the motherly love, care and affection that is so important for a healthy upbringing.

In light of the above and other aspects the ruling of Islamic scholars is that a husband does have the right to prohibit his wife from leaving the house for employment. 'Allama Ibn 'Abidin, one of the greatest of the later Hanafi scholars, has written in his Commentary of the al-Durr al-Mukhtar,

"…If the reason for him having the discretion of prohibiting his wife is that she is under no obligation to work [and it is the responsibility of the husband] then one point to ponder over is that sometimes she may need to purchase something which is not his responsibility to purchase for her. Hence, what can be concluded is that he has the right to prohibit her from any work that will lead her to a shortcoming in fulfilling his rights, is harmful to him, or requires that she leave the house. As for work that is not harmful in any way to him, then there is no reason for him to prohibit her from it, especially while he is away from the house, because leaving a women without any activity or work in the house opens the door to the whisperings of Shaytan or her taking part in frivolous activities with relatives or the neighbors" (Radd al-Muhtar 2:565).

This means that the husband has the right to prohibit her from leaving the house for work but he does not have the right to prohibit her from taking part in some home based work or business [for instance via the internet or mail order, etc.] as long as it does not compromise any of his rights.

And Allah knows best.

Wassalam
Abdurrahman Ibn Yusuf