Surah Al-Ahzaab (33) — Ayah 33

33. And stay in your homes [47], and do not display your beauty as was the practice of the former days of ignorance [48][49]. Establish prayer, give zakat, and obey Allah and His Messenger. O people of the (Prophet’s) household [50], Allah only intends to remove impurity from you and to purify you completely [51].

[47]
Roaming Freely After Adorning Oneself:

If the word "qarn" is derived from the root "qarar," then its meaning is the same as is apparent from the translation, and if its root is considered "waqar," then its meaning is to remain in the home with dignity. In both cases, the meaning is the same: a woman's sphere of activity is her home. Thus, according to this verse, there is a restriction on women going out freely from their homes. Sayyiduna Umarؓ found it very difficult for women, especially the wives of the Prophetﷺ, to go out unveiled. Therefore, he used to say to the Messenger of Allahﷺ that you should keep your wives in seclusion. Sayyidah Aishaؓ says that the Messenger of Allahﷺ did not pay much attention to Umar's words. The wives of the Prophetﷺ would often go out at night and go towards the Manasi’ (places for relieving themselves). One night, Sayyidah Sawdahؓ bint Zam’ah, who was tall in stature, went out, and Sayyiduna Umar, while sitting among the people, said: "Sawda! We have recognized you." Sayyiduna Umarؓ said this hoping that the command of hijab would soon be revealed. Sayyidah Aishaؓ says that then Allah Almighty revealed the verse of hijab.

The Revelation of the Verse of Hijab and Permission to Go Out for Necessity:

When Sayyidah Sawdahؓ heard this from the mouth of Sayyiduna Umarؓ, she came home and said to the Messenger of Allahﷺ: I went out due to necessity, but Umarؓ spoke such and such words. At that time, youﷺ were in my house and were sitting and eating the night meal. A bone was in yourﷺ hand, and in that state, revelation began to descend upon youﷺ. Then the state of revelation ceased, and the bone was still in your hand, which you had not put down. Youﷺ said: "You women have been permitted to go out for your needs." [بخاری۔ کتاب التفسیر۔ باب قولہ تعالیٰ لاتدخلوا بیوت النبی]

The Real Needs of Women:

It is as if Sayyiduna Umarؓ wanted a complete ban on women going out. Divine revelation did impose a restriction on women going out from their homes, as Sayyiduna Umarؓ wanted, but did not impose a complete ban; rather, women were permitted to go out for necessity. Now the question is: what are those needs for which women may leave their homes? They are: performing the obligatory Hajj, going to the mosque or Eidgah for prayer, meeting relatives and attending their events such as marriage and weddings, or visiting the sick and offering condolences for the deceased. Some of these needs involve travel, and some do not. Now, consider the Prophetic instructions regarding these:

1. Sayyiduna Ibn Abbasؓ says: A man stood up and said: "O Messenger of Allahﷺ! My wife has gone out for Hajj, and my name has been written for such-and-such battle." Youﷺ said: "Go back and perform Hajj with your wife." [بخاری۔ کتاب النکاح۔ باب لایخلون رجل۔۔۔]

A Woman Should Not Travel Without a Mahram:

Thus, youﷺ excused that man from such an important religious duty as jihad, but did not allow his wife to go for Hajj alone.

2. Youﷺ said: No woman should travel the distance of a day and night except with a mahram. [ترمذی۔ ابواب الرضاع۔ باب کراہیۃ ان تسافر المرأۃ وحدھا۔]

From this hadith, the definition of travel is also known: travel applies to such a distance from which a person cannot return home on foot by nightfall. If the distance is more than this, a woman cannot travel without a mahram.

3. Youﷺ said: When a woman goes out of her house alone, Satan watches her (i.e., makes her his tool). [ترمذی۔ ابواب الرضاع۔ باب کراھیۃ دخول علی المغیبات]

4. Women are not commanded to go to the mosque for prayer, but only permitted, and that too in the absence of prohibition. That is, a woman may go to the mosque only with her husband's permission. As the Prophetic instruction is: "If your wives ask you for permission to go to the mosque, do not prevent them." [مسلم۔ کتاب الصلوٰۃ۔ باب خروج النساء الی المساجد اذ لم یترتب علیہ فتنۃ]

Conditional Permission to Go to the Mosque:

Imam Muslim has clarified in the chapter heading that this permission is also subject to there being no fear of fitnah.

5. Thus, Sayyidah Aishaؓ said (in the last days of her life): If the Messenger of Allahﷺ had seen the present situation, he would have prevented women from going to the mosques, just as the women of Bani Israel were prevented. [بخاری۔ کتاب الاذان۔ باب خروج النساء الی المساجد باللیل]

The Best Place for a Woman to Pray Is the Inner Part of Her House:

Consider that in Masjid Nabawi, the reward for one congregational prayer is equal to a thousand prayers, and the Imam himself is the Messenger of Allahﷺ, who is the Imam of the Prophets. But despite all this, when Umm Humayd Sa’diyyah presented herself before youﷺ and said that it is her heartfelt desire to pray with you, youﷺ said: "The prayer in your room is better for you than in your courtyard, and the prayer in your courtyard is better than in your house's open area, and the prayer in your house's open area is better than in the neighborhood mosque, and the prayer in the neighborhood mosque is better than in the main mosque." And in the narration of Sayyidah Umm Salamah, the words of the Messenger of Allahﷺ are: "The best mosques for women are the inner parts of their houses." [احمد۔ طبراني]

Restrictions on Women Going to the Mosque:

Then, even for going to the mosque, the Prophetic Sunnah has imposed several restrictions, such as:

(1) She may only participate in the prayers held in darkness (Isha and Fajr), except for Jumu’ah and the two Eids. [بخاری۔ کتاب الاذان۔ باب خروج النساء الی المساجد باللیل و الغلس]
(2) On the night a woman wishes to go to the mosque, she must not apply perfume. [بخاري۔ حواله ايضاً]
(3) For men, the best row is the first, and the worst is the last; for women, the first row is the worst, and the last is the best. [مسلم۔ کتاب الصلوٰۃ۔ باب امر النساء المصلیات وراء الرجال۔۔۔]
(4) She should raise her head from bowing and prostration after the men. [مسلم۔ حواله ايضاً]
(5) After finishing the congregational prayer, she should leave the mosque immediately before the men. [مسلم و بخاري۔ حواله ايضاً]
(6) If there is a crowd on the way back and there is a risk of men and women mixing, women should walk along the sides of the road. [ابوداؤد۔ كتاب الادب]
(7) Since Eid prayers are offered in open fields, women would gather in a completely separate place. [مسلم۔ کتاب الصلوۃ، باب صلوۃ العیدین]

Prohibition of Free Mixing:

Now, after the explicitness of the above ahadith, is there any room left for Muslim women to become members of councils and parliaments, to run about in outdoor social activities, to work together with men in government offices, to have mixed education of boys and girls in colleges, to perform nursing services in hospitals, to be used for passenger service in airplanes and railcars, or to be used as saleswomen to attract customers?

[48] The word "jahiliyyah" is actually used by the Quran in contrast to Islam. That is, the way of life that is against Islamic civilization and culture, morals and etiquette, and Islamic mentality is jahiliyyah. And by "jahiliyyah al-ula" is meant the dark era before Islam. And if today the same old customs become prevalent in society, then this era too will be called the era of jahiliyyah.

[49]
What Is Included in ﴿تبرّج﴾?

﴿تبرّج﴾ means to try to display one's adornment, physical charms, and makeup to others, especially men, and it includes five things:
(1) Displaying the charms of one's body, (2) Displaying jewelry and its jingling, (3) Displaying worn clothes, (4) Swagger and coquettishness in walking, (5) Use of perfumes that attract non-mahrams.

[50]
Who Are the Ahl al-Bayt?

Ahl al-Bayt and Ahl al-Khana or household—all these are synonymous terms. By this is meant that a man's wife or wives are certainly included, as here in the context the wives of the Prophet are being addressed. And if there are children, they are also considered part of Ahl al-Bayt. But unfortunately, one sect among the Muslims has excluded the wives of the Prophet from Ahl al-Bayt and instead has taken Ahl al-Bayt to mean Sayyidah Fatimahؓ, Sayyiduna Aliؓ, Sayyiduna Hasanؓ, and Sayyiduna Husainؓ, and its basis is the narration of Imam Ahmad that the Prophetﷺ took these four under a cloak and said: ﴿اللّٰهُمَّ هٰوُلاَءِ اَهْلَ بَيْتِيْ...﴾ (O Allah! These are my household). Whereas by this, the Prophetﷺ only meant: O Allah, include my children in this pure act of purification, and heﷺ did this because in the context, the address was only to the wives of the Prophet, not to his children.

[51]
Different Aspects of Purification:

Here, in terms of the context, "rijs" (impurity, filth) refers only to those actions and behaviors that are related to immodesty and can arouse lustful desires, and this is the subject mentioned in the context. However, the meaning of "rijs" is very broad, and it includes the filth of shirk, disbelief, and hypocrisy, the filth of vile morals, and even outward impurity. The meaning is that the way to remove such impurity is: O wives of the Prophet, instead of the display and show of the era of jahiliyyah, establish prayers, pay zakat, and obey Allah and His Messenger. Do not trouble the Messenger of Allah with demands for expenses, etc. In this way, Allah will remove all kinds of impurity from your hearts and make them pure and clean.