Women Giving Dawah - Ibn Uthaymeen

Question: Is giving da‘wah mandatory upon the woman, and in which field does she call?

Answer:
We must first understand an important principle: whatever is established for men in the Sharī‘ah is likewise established for women, except where there is specific evidence showing that the ruling applies only to men.

An example of this is the ḥadīth of ʿĀ’ishah (رضي الله عنها). She said:

يا رسولَ الله، هل على النساءِ جهاد؟
قال: عليهن جهادٌ لا قتالَ فيه: الحجُّ والعمرة “O Messenger of Allah, is jihād obligatory upon women?” He replied: ‘Jihād is obligatory upon them, but it is the jihād that involves no fighting: ḥajj and ʿumrah.’ -  Reported by Imām Aḥmad and al-Dāraqutnī

This indicates that combat jihād is obligatory upon men but not obligatory upon women, according to explicit evidence.

Similarly, the Prophet (ﷺ) said:

خيرُ صفوفِ الرجالِ أوّلُها وشرُّها آخرُها، وخيرُ صفوفِ النساءِ آخرُها وشرُّها أوّلُها - “The best rows for men are the first rows, and the worst are the last. And the best rows for women are the last rows, and the worst are the first.”

This shows that men have roles and responsibilities specific to them, and women have roles specific to them.

“The best rows for the men are the first ones and the worst rows are the last ones. And the best rows for the women are the last ones and the worst rows for them are the first ones.” (Muslim)

So the principle is that whatever is established in regards to the men, then it applies also to the women from the commandments and prohibitions, and that which is established in regards to the women, then it also applies to the men. For this, whoever accuses a man of fornication, it is incumbent that he be punished with eighty stripes (lashes), along with the fact that the verse was specifically for those men who accuse chaste innocent women of fornication, as Allaah, the Most High, said:

وَالَّذِينَ يَرْمُونَ ٱلْمُحْصَنَتِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَأْتُواْ بِأَرْبَعَةِ شُهَدَاءَ فَاجْلِدُوهُمْ ثَمَنِينَ جَلْدَةً - "And those who accuse chaste women, and do not produce four witnesses, flog them with eighty stripes." - An-Noor (24:4)

Then we look at giving da‘wah to Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic; is it specific to the men, or is it a general, collective effort shared by both women and men? That which is clarified from the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (ﷺ) is that it is a general, collective effort.

But the field of da‘wah for a woman is not like the field of da‘wah for a man. So the woman gives da‘wah in the gatherings of the women and not in the gatherings of men. She gives da‘wah in the field that is possible Islamically for her to give da‘wah in, and it is in the gatherings of women, whether it be in schools or in the masājid.

Source: Page 45 & 46 - The Role of the Woman in Rectifying the Society Sh. al-‘Uthaymeen