Asked whether Islam forbids women from driving, Dr Muhammad Tazammul Haque, professor of Islamic Studies at Jagannath University, writes in Prothom Alo that neither the core texts of the Quran and hadith nor the principles of fiqh give clear evidence for calling it forbidden.
He points out that in the Prophet's (peace be upon him) time women used camels and horses. A hadith in Sahih Muslim (No. 2527) praises the women of Quraysh who rode camels, and a narration in Sahih Bukhari (No. 6161) records the Prophet telling the camel driver Anjasha to slow down because women were riding. In these cases, he argues, women riding was not forbidden; the guidance was about how the animals were driven and the women's safety.
The companion Asma bint Abu Bakr described feeding, caring for and handling her husband Zubair's horse (Sahih Muslim, No. 2182). The writer cautions that this should not be read as her riding it, but it shows a woman companion managing a mount. Later, asked about women riding horses on Hajj or other journeys, Imam Malik cited Asma's example and said he saw no harm in it as long as nothing objectionable in Islam was involved.
The article cites an agreed principle of fiqh: in worldly customs and practical matters the starting point is permissibility unless there is conclusive evidence of prohibition. To call driving forbidden for women simply because they are women would need separate proof, which in his view does not exist. Today's car, he writes, is the modern form of the camel or the horse.
That does not mean there are no limits. If driving involves immodesty, improper mixing, seclusion, unsafe travel or reckless behaviour, the rulings on those things apply. His conclusion is that women driving is permitted, provided the setting, the nature of the journey, safety and the rules of modesty are properly observed.
Source: Prothom Alo
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