❖ Source:
This response is derived from the book “500 Questions & Answers for Women”, a collection of fatwas from the Scholars of the Ḥaramayn, translated by Ḥāfiẓ ʿAbdullāh Salīm.
✿ Question:
A female student regularly attends the mosque to seek Islamic knowledge. When she returns home, she needs to revise and review what she has learned, which requires a considerable amount of time. However, she also realizes that household chores await her, and it is necessary for her to assist her mother. Fulfilling her domestic responsibilities consumes all her time, while the pursuit of knowledge demands complete focus and dedication.
So, how can she strike a balance between her household duties and the time needed for seeking knowledge?
✿ Answer:
If she can free herself entirely from worldly tasks in order to seek knowledge, then she should certainly do so. This is what I advise her to do.However, if she cannot completely avoid her worldly responsibilities, then she should organize her time in such a way that the greater portion is dedicated to seeking knowledge, while a lesser portion is allocated for household tasks.
Indeed, a person cannot truly attain knowledge until they make the world subservient to knowledge. But when knowledge is made subservient to worldly matters, then knowledge is not acquired at all.
والله المستعان
And Allah is the One whose help is sought.
[Shaykh Muqbil bin Hādī al-Wādiʿī رحمه الله]