Women Going Out

Does the Qur’an command women to stay home?

وقرن في بيوتكن

This verse [33:33] can be read in two different ways: ‘And remain [وَقَرْنَ] in your homes.’ & ‘And remain dignified [وَقِرْنَ] in your homes.’

1- Imam Ibn Jarir Tabari explains:
وَقَرَأَ ذَلِكَ عَامَّة قُرَّاء الْكُوفَة وَالْبَصْرَة : { وَقِرْنَ } بِكَسْرِ الْقَاف , بِمَعْنَى : كُنَّ أَهْل وَقَار وَسَكِينَة { فِي بُيُوتكُنَّ } . وَهَذِهِ الْقِرَاءَة وَهِيَ الْكَسْر فِي الْقَاف أَوْلَى عِنْدَنَا بِالصَّوَابِ
“And the reciters of Kufah and Basrah generally recite it as ‘waqirna’, with the ‘Kasra’ on the ‘Qaaf’, which would mean: ‘And remain dignified and serene in your homes.’ This recitation is closer to the truth according to me.”
[“Tafsir Tabari”, 10/294].

So Imam Tabari did not read this verse as a command for women to stay at home… and even those who did read it as that, many of them did not consider it an obligation, but as an encouragement.

2- Ibn Battal said:
وقال المهلب: وقوله: لكن أفضل الجهاد حج مبرور، يفسر قوله تعالى: وَقَرْنَ فِى بُيُوتِكُنَّ وَلاَ تَبَرَّجْنَ تَبَرُّجَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ الأُولَى { الأحزاب: 33 } أنه ليس على الفرض لملازمة البيوت
‘Muhallab said [about the Hadith]: ‘The best Jihad [for women] is a Hajj Mabrur.’ : And this explains that the Qur’anic verse: ‘And remain in your houses,’ [33:33], does not obligate women to stay in their houses.’
[‘Sharh Ibn Battal’, 4/191].

3- Ibn Hajar said:
وفيه دليل على أن الأمر بالقرار في البيوت ليس على سبيل الوجوب
‘And in this there is evidence that [women] remaining in their houses is not compulsory.’
[‘Fath al-Bari’, 4/89].

If the Shar’ii requirements are met: women can go out of their homes and visit family, friends, do shopping, go to the doctor, go to work, take the kids to the park, enjoy nature etc, if the family is in the loop, if they don’t neglect their family commitments and it is safe and they maintain hijab etc.

The guidelines should be adhered to, by both men and women. For example: Non-related men and women should not flirt or be alone with each other, etc.

If Shar’ii guidelines are not breached, there is no issue …

In our country, some say:
ښځه یا په کور
یا په ګور
‘Women should be either at home [KOOR],
or in the grave [GOOR].’

This is cultural nonsense ……….

Islam does not say that women should be caged up and locked up behind 4 walls their entire life ………….