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QUESTION: My question is in regards to women being commanded to stay in their houses and the reality faced by religious Muslim women, especially housewives and mothers of young children, in the West. It can get very depressing to stay at home all the time with young children when the husband is working long hours, however I know of a scholar who doesn't allow his wife to come to the masjid except once a month or so. This makes it very difficult for other community women who are in desperate need of Islamic knowledge from her, and would love to have her teach them. Also, she is often irritable and complains about her condition of loneliness and seclusion to her close friends. How can we advise our scholar of the importance of allowing his wife to come to the masjid to fulfill the wajib kifayah of the community, of knowledgeable women teaching others the basics of Islam? And also it is feared that the example that the scholar is setting will be followed by other religious men in the community and thus make all the wives quite miserable by not meeting their social and religious needs. ANSWER: Assalamu alaykum There are a number of issues that need to be addressed in this question.

Firstly, it is important as you say to organize classes for the women of the community. This is an important obligation and thus we should try to find a way to make this happen. You may suggest having the classes at one of the homes where there can be complete privacy for the sisters and with which the Imam and his wife also feels comfortable. If a class can be arranged in the Imam's own home then that would also solve the problem.

The community cannot force the Imam to allow his wife to frequent the masjid, since he may have valid reasons for not doing so. For instance, he may not be satisfied with the segregation arrangements there (unfortunately many masajid suffer from this problem in the US, and many sisters feel that they cannot gain the peace and tranquility they seek due to poor or a complete lack of segregation arrangements). Hence, the educational aspect can be overcome by arranging the classes elsewhere.

Secondly, the Imam's relationship and interaction with his wife in this regard is the couple’s personal business and not something the community has anything to do with. If the wife has a serious problem with her situation then she may herself approach or consult with her influential elders or scholars in this regard. They can then deal with the issue. It is not something members of the community can take into their hands and pressure or even advice the Imam about, since he may have his own valid reasons for doing what he is doing. Entering into such a situation can only harm their relationship. The Sharia instructs in general not to interfere with couples in their marital and internal issues.

Finally, to help remove the loneliness of the Imam's wife, this is certainly something that the sisters of the community can assist in and will be greatly rewarded for. They can befriend her and make her feel at home in the community by visiting her home or including her in properly-organized social get together, so long as her husband welcomes such interaction. Hence, this should be done on a social level and not with the intent to interfere.

And Allah knows best.

Abdurrahman ibn Yusuf

[Source: SunniPath]