Ninth dubiosity:
Veil reduces society’s productivity by half
This dubiosity is promoted by secular oriented people. They claim that veiling women would unemployed half of society, because Islam orfers women to stay at home.
For this dubiosity there are several counter arguments:
1.Islam basically requests women to stay at home, in accordance with Allah’s order:
(وَقَرْنَ فِي بُيُوتِكُنَّ وَلَا تَبَرَّجْنَ تَبَرُّجَ الجَاهِلِيَّةِ الأُولَى .. ) سورة الأحزاب 33:33
( And stay quietly in your houses, and make not a dazzling display, like that of the former times of Ignorance..) Qur’an 33:33
How can anybody claim that this is an insult to women and a cancellation of her productivity? Is it not the best employment of her power?
2.Islam considers raising children and teaching them the proper manners one of the most important duties of a woman. International and local statistics indicates clearly that one of the major causes juvenile delinquency is the break-up of homes and insufficient parental care.
3.Islam did not ordain women to support themselves or their families. In fact it is the duty of a man to upkeep his family and his wife. Consequently, the natural order of things is for a man to go to work, and for a woman to be free to perform a much more important task than work outside the home: namely raising generations through whom societies exist and prosper.
4.Islam takes great pains to protect society from collapse. Mixing men with women is the source of problems that expose women to danger and weakens society. This mixing will preoccupy single men and women in acts and deeds that will not benefit society at all. When this mixing is coupled with women openly displaying their make-up and beauty, single men and women will indulge in acts that will destroy the very fabric of society.
5.Islam does not prohibit women from work. In fact it is the duty of a women to work and be active in certain fields that society requires. Society will be better off when these fields requiring one person to expose himself or herself to another are occupied by a person of the same sex, such as gynaecologist, mid-wife, teacher, X-ray specialist, etc.
6.Moreover, when necessary, Islam does not prohibit a woman from work as long as she adheres to the Shari’ah rules. These rules include:
6.a. her legal guardian’s permission,
6.b. Not to mix or be alone with men,
6.c. That her job is legal,
6.d. The job does not involve a disobedience to Allah,
6.e. The job is morally and socially acceptable, and
6.f. This job does not hinder or stop her from performing her maternal duties at home, etc*.
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* Please refer to Letters to the Muslim Woman by Khalid al-Hammadi, pages 12-105.