Please help: can a woman work as a laywer?

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L

Laura

New Member
Assalmu ailakum,

I am aware that the testimony of one woman alone in most areas of law can not be relied upon.

So my question is, legally speaking is it permitted for a woman to work in the sphere of the law, for example as a solicitor, barristor, etc........

I'd appreciate an answer from anyone who knows better than me (lol)!
 
ibn azem

ibn azem

Super Moderator
Staff member
:salam2:

Question:
What are the fields which it is permissible for a woman to learn? Is it permissible for her to work as a lawyer and take on cases representing others as much as she is able to?

Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.

Women may learn about their religion and whatever will be of use to them in their lives as wives and mothers. Then if a woman is able and circumstances are suitable, she may learn other things too. There is no reason why she should not learn the profession of teaching, whether she teaches in women’s schools or in her own home.

A woman may also learn medicine and nursing, especially in the field of women’s diseases (gynaecology), so that she can be a women’s doctor or a women’s nurse, and women will not be forced to go to male doctors.

It is permissible for a woman to represent another person in a case, hence it is permissible for her to be a lawyer, because lawyers represent defendants. However, the field of law nowadays has taken a wrong turning. Moreover, the lawyer needs to mix with the defendants and attend court, etc., and women are not allowed to do any of these things. So it is not appropriate for women to become lawyers so long as things remain as they are.


Wilaayat al-Mar’ah fi’l-Fiqh al-Islami p. 690
 
apocalypse77

apocalypse77

Junior Member
ibn azem said:
:salam2:

Question:
What are the fields which it is permissible for a woman to learn? Is it permissible for her to work as a lawyer and take on cases representing others as much as she is able to?

Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.

However, the field of law nowadays has taken a wrong turning. Moreover, the lawyer needs to mix with the defendants and attend court, etc., and women are not allowed to do any of these things. So it is not appropriate for women to become lawyers so long as things remain as they are.
Click to expand...


i find this statement an excuse to oppress women in their homes. everywhere place of work you go, uve to mic with the opposite sex. even as being a teacher. and please woman mean business, they dont have time to seduce men

typical sexist scholar
 
ibn azem

ibn azem

Super Moderator
Staff member
apocalypse77 said:
i find this statement an excuse to oppress women in their homes. everywhere place of work you go, uve to mic with the opposite sex. even as being a teacher. and please woman mean business, they dont have time to seduce men

typical sexist scholar
Click to expand...
salam alaykum

Much the contrary sister, those "sexist" scholars that you call prevent our Ummah from going astray by the will of Allaah. If they were not there to explain to us much of these issues we would've been in darkness and astray. So i find it very disturbing when we, the young generation, who have got very little knowledge of basic things in our Deen try to correct the scholars, who spend their life dedicating it to the Deen, and ask them to change things in order to fit our whims.

We do not see as far as our nose, and they alhamdulillaah do. We should be grateful to Allaah for having scholars.

And we know from the Sunnah that when knowledge is taken from the Ummah (by taking the 'Ulama) then await the trouble and tribulation.

May Allaah swt never leave us without the much needed 'Ulamaa.

Although we see that even with them it is so hard because people do not listen to their advice. And look where our Ummah has come to.:astag:

wasalaam.
 
J

Jihan

Junior Member
apocalypse77 said:
i find this statement an excuse to oppress women in their homes. everywhere place of work you go, uve to mic with the opposite sex. even as being a teacher. and please woman mean business, they dont have time to seduce men

typical sexist scholar
Click to expand...

everywhere place of work you go, uve to mic with the opposite sex.

that means there is something wrong with how today's society works. there should be no gender mixing ad we all know that as muslims; i mean we might be faced place that does not agree have that requirement but then that's when we would lower our gaze, but we would still have to avoid being in such conditions. and if you're going to become a teacher you can always teach at a one gendered class ( the class of your gender).


woman mean business, they dont have time to seduce men:
ok we know this is not completely true... there are so many women who do this. just like men who take advantage of being the boss.
ma'salaam...
 
A

Aapa

Mirajmom
Salaam,

The questions and answers pose grave concerns. My question is what happens when a woman is the sole provider for the family. The woman has to work to support her family.
The occupation she endevors in takes many years of education and certifications beyond the highest level ..living in the West she has to mix with all sorts. i.e. represent defendants in court; make psychological assessments regarding a person's sanity; hold counseling sessions with men only.
If I may be blatant..she has no choice but to go and work and has the total responsibility of raising her family. She is a hard working Muslim woman. She takes her responsibility very seriously as a Mulsim. Added to this is the fact that where she lives there are relatively few positions available to select from. The economic reality forces her to work..how does she reconcile that she is not commiting haram but trying to survive?
 
Happy 2BA Muslim

Happy 2BA Muslim

Islamophilic
mirajmom said:
Salaam,

The questions and answers pose grave concerns. My question is what happens when a woman is the sole provider for the family. The woman has to work to support her family.
The occupation she endevors in takes many years of education and certifications beyond the highest level ..living in the West she has to mix with all sorts. i.e. represent defendants in court; make psychological assessments regarding a person's sanity; hold counseling sessions with men only.
If I may be blatant..she has no choice but to go and work and has the total responsibility of raising her family. She is a hard working Muslim woman. She takes her responsibility very seriously as a Mulsim. Added to this is the fact that where she lives there are relatively few positions available to select from. The economic reality forces her to work..how does she reconcile that she is not commiting haram but trying to survive?
Click to expand...

:salam2:

I agree with you Sister. This is real life.

Here is the importance of going and asking an imam or Muslim scholar about a specific circumstance. The ruling mentioned above is general. If anyone thinks there are some missing points that the scholar might not be aware of, or has circumstances as described above by Sister mirajmom, it is better to go to a pious scholar to address your concerns.

:salam2:
 
A

Aapa

Mirajmom
Salaam,

Would you be so kind as to give suggestions as to where we can get a true answer for my question?
 
Globalpeace

Globalpeace

Banned
Our Need for a Fiqh Suitable to Our Time and Place

W-Salam,

All scholars from Muslim countries are respected and honoured.

But I think that:

1) *FIQH* for Muslims living in Non-Muslim lands as Minority have peculiar problems and such HAVE NOT been addressed in Fiqh of the past

2) Muslim countries have different problems so FATAWA from Muslim countries are sometimes not relevant or even applicable

3) The time that we are living is most peculiar and there is no parallel in the Islamic history

Alhumdo-lillah Scholars in the West are waking up to the fact and the following is an old article but categorically expresses what I am trying to say!

http://www.islamicawakening.com/viewarticle.php?articleID=1232&

Shortly thereafter Dr Ali Tamimi got permanently thrown out of Salafiyyah for this speech and expressing this views!

Now Yasir Qadhi is pretty much saying exactly the same things!

P.S: I understand that many will disagree with my thoughts BUT before thinking that I am calling for a new Islam or new interpretation of Qur'aan/Sunnah; read the article in FULL!

mirajmom said:
Salaam,

The questions and answers pose grave concerns. My question is what happens when a woman is the sole provider for the family. The woman has to work to support her family.
The occupation she endevors in takes many years of education and certifications beyond the highest level ..living in the West she has to mix with all sorts. i.e. represent defendants in court; make psychological assessments regarding a person's sanity; hold counseling sessions with men only.
If I may be blatant..she has no choice but to go and work and has the total responsibility of raising her family. She is a hard working Muslim woman. She takes her responsibility very seriously as a Mulsim. Added to this is the fact that where she lives there are relatively few positions available to select from. The economic reality forces her to work..how does she reconcile that she is not commiting haram but trying to survive?
Click to expand...
 
Libinette

Libinette

Umm Zubayr
ibn azem said:
salam alaykum

Much the contrary sister, those "sexist" scholars that you call prevent our Ummah from going astray by the will of Allaah. If they were not there to explain to us much of these issues we would've been in darkness and astray. So i find it very disturbing when we, the young generation, who have got very little knowledge of basic things in our Deen try to correct the scholars, who spend their life dedicating it to the Deen, and ask them to change things in order to fit our whims.

We do not see as far as our nose, and they alhamdulillaah do. We should be grateful to Allaah for having scholars.

And we know from the Sunnah that when knowledge is taken from the Ummah (by taking the 'Ulama) then await the trouble and tribulation.

May Allaah swt never leave us without the much needed 'Ulamaa.

Although we see that even with them it is so hard because people do not listen to their advice. And look where our Ummah has come to.:astag:

wasalaam.
Click to expand...


:salam2:

brother ibn azem, i just thought i'd tell you that apocalypse77 is a brother ;)

:wasalam:
 
TheHumbleWun

TheHumbleWun

Banned
mirajmom said:
Salaam,

The questions and answers pose grave concerns. My question is what happens when a woman is the sole provider for the family. The woman has to work to support her family.
The occupation she endevors in takes many years of education and certifications beyond the highest level ..living in the West she has to mix with all sorts. i.e. represent defendants in court; make psychological assessments regarding a person's sanity; hold counseling sessions with men only.
If I may be blatant..she has no choice but to go and work and has the total responsibility of raising her family. She is a hard working Muslim woman. She takes her responsibility very seriously as a Mulsim. Added to this is the fact that where she lives there are relatively few positions available to select from. The economic reality forces her to work..how does she reconcile that she is not commiting haram but trying to survive?
Click to expand...

Asalaamalikum sister,

I am with you on every word. We are comparing the ideal world with the real world. Sure, we love the ideal world but the reality is different.

We actually need more Muslim lawyers (men and women) with all the injustice that is going on in the world. The only concern I have is sometimes lawyers have to be defendents of sometimes wrong action that his client told him/her and he/she has to almost change the fact and create a "lie" sort of speak to back his client in court. I can never back up a criminal for something he/she did wrong that I know is wrong in the first place.
 
A

Aapa

Mirajmom
Salaam,

I read the article. We do need understanding and clarification. I can not see how anyone would think you are calling for any new interpertation. Neither one of us is asking for change. The situation I orginally described is not peculiar; many women face challenges living in Western socities that do no exist in the Eastern world and vise versa.
 
M

Mohsin

abdu'Allah
Globalpeace said:
W-Salam,

All scholars from Muslim countries are respected and honoured.

But I think that:

1) *FIQH* for Muslims living in Non-Muslim lands as Minority have peculiar problems and such HAVE NOT been addressed in Fiqh of the past

2) Muslim countries have different problems so FATAWA from Muslim countries are sometimes not relevant or even applicable

3) The time that we are living is most peculiar and there is no parallel in the Islamic history

Alhumdo-lillah Scholars in the West are waking up to the fact and the following is an old article but categorically expresses what I am trying to say!

http://www.islamicawakening.com/viewarticle.php?articleID=1232&

Shortly thereafter Dr Ali Tamimi got permanently thrown out of Salafiyyah for this speech and expressing this views!

Now Yasir Qadhi is pretty much saying exactly the same things!

P.S: I understand that many will disagree with my thoughts BUT before thinking that I am calling for a new Islam or new interpretation of Qur'aan/Sunnah; read the article in FULL!
Click to expand...

Brother i agree with you completely without even reading the article. All the three points are valid and are facts that we muslims living in non-muslim countries have to live with. Another problem which i see brother is that, our scholars are finding it hard to open up to the new era and get into the work of Ijtihaad. Neither i am against the scholars nor am i generalising them but many like giving fatwaas from books which really were written keeping in mind the situations of some 100 years ago. I think my Indo-Paki-Bangla brothers understand what i am saying. I hope people are not looking at me as a rebellious man but i am just saying that there is work to be done.
 
A

Aapa

Mirajmom
Salaam,

I believe we are in agreement that Islam is in a revival state. Each one of us wants to do right by Islam. We know as Muslims all our answers lie in the Holy and Glorious Quran. We need acute analysis that is in accordance with our faith to assist us fulfill our obligations as Muslims and at the same time provide for our families in a dignified manner.
To the Brother who expressed concerns about defending "criminals". If the system that vilifies innocent people is erroneous and corrupt to start with ..it opens a Pandora's box..subject of a new thread ...I could write a book that would make Hollywood jealous.
 
Globalpeace

Globalpeace

Banned
W-Salam,

You have no idea of the abuse Dr Ali Tamimi took over that article and the FATWAS that were put on his head!

:)

Many scholars in India/Pakistan have been saying this for over 150 Years; Scholars like Shaykh Abul-Hasan ALi Nadwi (RA) & others have called it the SINGLE MOST NEEDED Ijtehad of our time but many fundamentatlists don't like it & think that people are actually calling for a new interpretation of Qur'aan/Sunnah; emotions realy run high on this topic!

mirajmom said:
Salaam,

I believe we are in agreement that Islam is in a revival state. Each one of us wants to do right by Islam. We know as Muslims all our answers lie in the Holy and Glorious Quran. We need acute analysis that is in accordance with our faith to assist us fulfill our obligations as Muslims and at the same time provide for our families in a dignified manner.
To the Brother who expressed concerns about defending "criminals". If the system that vilifies innocent people is erroneous and corrupt to start with ..it opens a Pandora's box..subject of a new thread ...I could write a book that would make Hollywood jealous.
Click to expand...
 
Globalpeace

Globalpeace

Banned
I have heard from a lot of people on the Internet who attended his talks and lecturers in Washington DC (Friday Nights) for years that there is NO CHANCE that he incited anything...

Some local Muslims testified against him to which Internet blogs say that they NEVER attended his lectures; so not really sure about his conviction...

What I do now is Muslims from whole backgrounds and methodologies attended his Lectures and he was popular.


alkathiri said:
That was shocking!!!

How come the good guys are usually in jail...

Shaykh ibn Taymiyyah, Imam Anwar awlaki, Dr Al timimi.....
May god give them the best place in jannah...and relieve their family of sufferings in duniya and akhira
Click to expand...
 
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