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Fatwa CenterRuling on women going out late and staying out late
Question
Is there a Sharee‘ah text about the prohibition of women leaving their homes late after ‘Ishaa’ prayer? If there is not any, what is the opinion of Muslim scholars in this regard? Can I have detailed information on this subject, please?
Thank you.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.
First of all, we would like to emphasize that Muslim women should abide in their homes, in principle, whether during the day or the night. Allaah The Exalted Says (what means): {And abide in your houses…} [Quran 33:33]
However, if the Muslim woman went out of her home, if the need arises or for a necessity, she should firmly adhere to the due Islamic principles and obligations such as complying with her due Hijab and shunning intermixing with men.
As for going out late at night, we do not know of an explicit text in this regard. It was reported in authentic narrations that the wives of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, used to go out of their homes late to relieve themselves at night in Al-Manaasi' (a place where they used to answer the call of nature). Al-Azhari 
said: “I think that they were outside Al-Madeenah.”
For the woman to stay out at night, she should adhere to the above mentioned conditions, plus the condition that she would be safe from temptation or harm. Indeed, were she to fear temptation or harm, then it would be impermissible for her to go out or stay out late. It is well-known that the Islamic Sharee‘ah fosters the principle of elimination of evils and minimizing them as much as possible and bringing about benefits and multiplying them; hence, Muslim women are banned from traveling without a Mahram-man and from staying in seclusion with a non-Mahram man for the purpose of eliminating and shunning any potential temptation. Therefore, if staying outside the home may bring about harm on the Muslim woman, then it is impermissible for her to do so, just as it is impermissible for her to travel without a Mahram man or stay in seclusion with a non-Mahram man.
Allaah Knows best.
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