In the fatwa issued below from Deoband www.darulifta-deoband.com/home/en/qa/26541 you mention “two storey”. Our Masjid has 3 floors not 2. (A)If the Brothers and imam prayed on the ground floor and the sisters prayed on the 2nd floor leaving the 1st floor fully empty will their salah with jamaat be valid? (B) If the Brothers and imam prayed on the ground floor and the sisters prayed on the top 3rd floor leaving the 1st and 2nd floors both fully empty will their salah with jamaat be valid?
Answer
(Fatwa: 697/L=253/tl=1432)
The meaning of mosque applies to the area from deep down earth to the sky. Hence, if the imam leads prayer in ground floor and the muqtadi follows him with the gap of one or two floor then too his salah shall be valid. However, Ulama have forbidden the women to join jama’ah in the light of Shariah due to fitnah. Hence, it is not right for women to come in the mosque and offer salah. They should offer salah in their homes.
Allah (Subhana Wa Ta’ala) knows Best
Darul Ifta,
Darul Uloom Deoband