The issue is still highly debated in the Muslim world: whether Islam obliges women to remain in their home or not. The Quranic verse in Surah al-Ahzab, which states, “Settle in your homes…” (33:33), is widely used by people as a way to prove that women are religiously required not to lead lives in public. However, a further examination of the Quran, Hadith, and the early history of Islam reveals that this command was being applied to the wives of the Prophet ﷺ, not to all Muslim women.

This distinction is explicitly stated in context, even in the Quran. The verse “Settle in your homes…” is an immediate continuation of what Allah says: “O wives of the Prophet, you are not like any other women” (33:32). Imam Fakhr al-Din al-Razi in Mafatiih al-Ghayb, al-Zamakhshari in Al-Kashshaf, and al-Shawkani in Fatth al-Qadir all affirmed that only the wives of the Prophet ﷺ are addressed in this manner. Their remarkable social and religious standing demanded greater decorum. Being the Mothers of the Believers (Peace Be Upon Them), their behaviour was to be exemplary, and their privacy was to be respected in honour of the Prophet ﷺ himself. The scholars contended that generalising this teaching to all women disregards the grammatical form of the verse as well as its context and intent.

The Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ offers even greater support in the fact that women were not ordered to lead a secluded life. The Prophet ﷺ rebuked those companions who disliked seeing women in the mosque by telling them: “Don’t prevent your women from going to the mosque when they seek your........

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