At a glance
- Era
- The Early Abbasid Caliphate
- Region
- Egypt & Nile
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
In time
Summary
In 405 AH the caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah forbade women in Egypt ever to leave their homes or enter the public baths 1.
Details of the ban
He also stopped the shoemakers from making the shoes women used to walk outside in. It is one of the best-known decrees that historians recorded among his changeable rulings 1.
Enforcement
Several women who disobeyed his order were killed, and some old women were drowned 1.
Connections
- Had participant
- al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah Ahmad al-Qabi
- Occurred at
- Misr (Egypt)
People and things also explored
the Ayyubid shuffle — al-Adil to Aleppo, al-Aziz to Egypt· al-Adil takes Egypt — the Ayyubid house-war ends· Establishment of the Abbasid caliphate in Cairo· death of al-Aziz — al-Afdal takes Egypt· Death of Malik al-Ashtar on the way to Egypt· the killing of Muḥammad ibn Abī Ḥudhayfa in Egypt (36 AH, disputed)· Earthquakes in Egypt· The general famine and plague of 448
Sources
- Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p. 173
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Al-Hakim Forbids the Women of Egypt to Go Out”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/hakim-women-confinement-405/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.