By Asma bint Shameem
Whenever there’s ‘confusion’ about anything, Allaah tells us what to do.
He says:
“(And) if you differ in anything amongst yourselves, refer it to Allaah and His Messenger, if you believe in Allaah and in the Last Day. That is better and more suitable for final determination” (al-Nisa’ 4:59)
Referring to Allaah, means looking at the Qur’aan and referring to the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam, means looking at his authentic Sunnah.
So what’s important and correct is where we have *proof* from the practice of the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam and the Sahaabah.
So the question is
“Did the Sahaabiyaat pray different from the way the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam and the men Companions prayed?
When we look at history and the authentic ahaadeeth, there’s *no authentic proof* that the women Companions prayed differently from the men.
If they had prayed differently we would have had EVIDENCE regarding that.
Obviously Salaah was the most important deed in their lives and their whole lives revolved around it.
Yet there’s *no authentic hadeeth* telling us that the women prayed differently from the men.
In fact, the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam specifically told us.
He said:
“Pray as you have seen me praying.” (al-Bukhaari)
He said this to *BOTH men AND women*.
He did not say “this is for the men only” or “the women should pray differently” etc.
If there *was* any difference in the prayers, surely the Prophet Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam would have specifically said so.
And he Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam also said:
"Women are the twin halves of men" (Ahmad - saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami)
So the women will have the same rulings for everything in our Deen as men except when there is evidence of a specific ruling which applies only to women.
And since there’s no specific instructions of the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam regarding how women are to stand together in the rows, that’s different from the men, then the same rulings as the men applies to them as well.
So we should also stand shoulder to shoulder and foot to foot.
And we should also try and straighten the rows when we pray.
Similarly we should sit the same way, make rukoo and sujood the same way.
Shaykh al-Albaani said:
“Everything that we have said above about the way in which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) prayed applies equally to men and women. There is nothing narrated in the Sunnah which implies that women are exempted from any of that. Rather the general meaning of the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), “Pray as you have seen me praying,” include women too.”
(Sifat Salaat al-Nabi)
Objection
What about the ahaadeeth that say there’s a difference between the prayer of a man and a woman
Answer
Those who say that there is a difference between the prayer of men and women quote only ahaadeeth that are *WEAK*.
And as you know, if a hadeeth is weak, that means it’s highly *doubtful* that the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam ever said that, did that or approved of that.
So why go into doubtful things when we have clear authentic ahaadeeth from Saheeh al-Bukhaari?
Or they might be practicing their own ijtehaad for saying that.
But there’s no solid proof from the practice or ahaadeeth of the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam
It’s Logical
Besides, its even *logical* to pray the same way as the men.
Why?
Those who say women should pray differently from men say that we should pray in a manner that is befitting our ‘hayaa’ and we should *compress* ourselves when making sujood and not to bend our backs too much when making rukoo’ etc. because other ‘men’ might look at us and we’ll be exposing our bodies.
But why do we need to compress ourselves?
Who will be looking at us when most of our lives we pray in the privacy of our homes?
And even in the masjid, are there any men praying behind us?
No of course not.
The reason WHY women are supposed to behind the men in congregation IS BECAUSE there will be no chance of anyone ‘looking’ at the women.
So there’s no ‘need’ for worrying about ‘compressing’ ourselves because of ‘hayaa’ or modesty.
EXCEPTION
One concession to the above may be if women are praying in an *open* area where there may be men around and our bodies may be exposed if we make rukoo and sujood like the men. For example if we’re at a park, or airport or even the Haram.
Sometimes there are no corners or secluded areas where women can pray in such open places.
In *such* situations if a woman will compress herself while making rukoo and sujood, then the ulama say it’s allowed.
But that’s a *specific* situation.
*Generally speaking*, women should be praying exactly the same as the men and there’s no difference in how we pray.
Minor difference
There are a few MINOR differences in the prayer of men and women such as:
-Men give adhaan and iqaamah, women don’t, according to some ulama.
- the male Imaam leads the men by standing ahead of them alone in the front while a female Imaam will stand WITH the other women in the *same* row and *not* ahead of them.
- a male Imaam may lead men and women while a female Imaam cannot lead men. She can only lead women.
- women have to cover everything except their face while the men don’t have to cover all that.
- it’s better for women to pray at home while the men are supposed to pray in the masjid
- when praying in Jama’ah, men pray in *front* of the women. Women cannot pray in front of men.
- the front rows are better for the men while the back rows are better for women (when there’s no partition in between them)
- Salatul Jumu’ah is fardh for the men and not for the women.
And some other minor differences.
And Allaah knows best
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