The fatwa was issued by a bench of three clerics including chief mufti Habib-ur-Rehman on March 29. But it was made public recently, Deoband sources said today.
Clerics at the largest Sunni muslim seminary said the decree was based on the fact that the sharia prohibited proximity of men and women in the workplace.
The fatwa was in response to a query by a person Kausar whether income of a muslim woman for a family was justified.
They ruled that muslim women to work in any institution, government or private, with men is against sharia law.
At the time when there is a demand for job quota for muslims and a yearning for progress in the community that sees itself neglected, the fatwa has drawn flak from other clerics and progressive personalities.
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