Is it permissible for a woman to go out for visits while her husband is absent?

The questioner : One of the sisters wrote a question, and her brother Abu Ahmad gave it to us. In the first question, she asks: Is it permissible for a woman to go out for visits while her husband is absent, meaning he is traveling? And what are the limits of her going out of her home?

The Shaykh : The principle in this matter is that a woman should know that she was created to stay in her home, serve her husband, and raise her children if she has any. If she has no children, it is sufficient for her to be occupied with her home and her husband. Then, it is permissible for her to go out to take care of some necessities that her husband or one of her close relatives who is a mahram (a relative one may not marry) cannot do, or that no one else can do for her. Also, there is nothing wrong with her going out to visit her female companions or relatives, within limits that are not excessive, as is the case with men, because men are not addressed with the same command as women in the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: A woman should keep this before her eyes, meaning that her going out should not be like a man’s going out without calculation and without limits, even if her husband does not object to it. Once this is understood, we enter into the core of the answer to the question. If the husband is traveling, and her going out is limited, meaning it is not excessive as we mentioned, and the husband does not object to it, then it is permissible for her to go out; otherwise, it is not. In short, the going out that we have restricted in scope for her in her capacity as a woman is, in principle, permissible. However, a woman does not have the authority to enjoy doing every permissible thing, even if it contradicts her husband. For example, the principle is that it is permissible for her to go out of her home to visit some of her friends, but if the husband wants her to stay in her home while he is away from her, she must not go out, and it is not permissible for her to go out. This is the answer to the question.