Is it permissible for a woman to work in buying and selling while adhering to the hijab?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : I heard that it is permissible for a woman to work in buying and selling. Is this permissible if I adhere to the hijab?
The Shaykh : Yes, it is permissible for a woman to engage in buying, selling, leasing, and renting, provided that no religious prohibition results from it. The Muslims have continued to do this. Here is Aisha, the Mother of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with her), to whom Barirah came seeking her help with her contract of manumission. Then Aisha bought her from her people. Likewise, people in the markets today: a woman comes and buys from the shopkeeper, and he sells to her. Also, a woman may have real estate that she leases out. The important thing is that there is nothing wrong with a woman’s buying and selling, but only on the condition that no religious prohibition results from it. If a religious prohibition results from it, such that she mixes with men in a forbidden manner, then it is not permissible.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : Yes, it is permissible for a woman to engage in buying, selling, leasing, and renting, provided that no religious prohibition results from it. The Muslims have continued to do this. Here is Aisha, the Mother of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with her), to whom Barirah came seeking her help with her contract of manumission. Then Aisha bought her from her people. Likewise, people in the markets today: a woman comes and buys from the shopkeeper, and he sells to her. Also, a woman may have real estate that she leases out. The important thing is that there is nothing wrong with a woman’s buying and selling, but only on the condition that no religious prohibition results from it. If a religious prohibition results from it, such that she mixes with men in a forbidden manner, then it is not permissible.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.