Fathwa, - Seclusion of religious women in the home

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. Itcan get very
depressing to stay at home all the time withyoung 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 lonelinessand 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 kifayahof 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 animportant 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 theproblem.
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 withher
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 hemay
have his own valid reasons for doing what he is doing. Entering
intosuch 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.