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Women’s Prayers, Congregation, Books

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Qibla.com

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

My first inquiry is in regards to the actual performing of salat, I’ve come across a book called Ta’leem al Haq and read through it’s descriptions of how to carry out our prayers, but some sisters did not agree with some of it’s methodology.  The book also stressed

Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Walaikum assalam,

Hmm. The book you mention is reliable in terms of the rulings contained in it. Excellent, in fact. However, as you will have noticed, both the presentation and language leave a lot to be desired.

Generally, a woman’s prayer is the same as a man’s except in small number of points, none of which are central.

A book in Hanafi fiqh actually authored for women is Heavenly Ornaments(Behishti Zewar) by Imam Ashraf Ali Thanvi. The only English edition worth getting, however, is the 2-volume Zam Zam Publications copy. If you do a search on http://www.google.com  you’d find it. Try http://www.albalagh.net, whose bookstore has it, I believe.

this information in great detail?  Another inquiry I had is whether or not I can join a jamaa’ prayer even if it is led by women, because I am not sure about the ruling of praying jamaa with other sisters.  This is quite confusing to me because I’ve always known that you get more ajir when praying in a jamaa’ regardless of who’s leading the prayers.  What is the exact ruling on hanafi women leading jamaa prayer and on hanafi women praying with this jamaa?  Insha’ALLAH my Questions make sense and if not please don’t hesitate to ask for clarification.

  Actually, this is a common misunderstanding. The basic principle is that the nature of moral responsibility for men differs from that of women. So, for example, a (married) man is obliged legally to provide for his family, to do jihad, and to pray in the masjid in congregation. A (married) woman, on the other hand is responsible of raising good Muslim kids, taking care of the house, and praying at home. Now, one’s legal responsibilities are not in of them superior to the other’s; rather, they’re just different. So, a man wouldn’t get the reward a woman does if he just stayed home taking care of his family. Similarly, a woman doesn’t get the man’s reward for the public religious duties. Each is different. We know about the reward for jihad, but the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) told us that any woman who obeys her Lord, prays her obligatory prayers, and pleases her husband shall enter the Garden through any door she wishes. This is the level of the Siddiqs (the Veracious), which is the highest rank after Prophethood. I believe Sh. Nuh talked about this at the last Suhba in regards to the older mothers with limited worship whose khalwas were father more fruitful than those of young high-himma murids.

A man only gets full reward for his prayers, by what our beloved Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) told us, if he prays in congregation, in the masjid. For a woman, on the other hand, he told us that, “A woman’s prayer in the depths of her house is better than her prayer in this masjid of mine.” [(is better) = has more reward; (this masjid of mine) = the Masjid al-Nabawi!]

Had women’s full reward for prayer depended on going to the masjid or praying in congregation, then this would have placed a great hardship and spiritual loss on mothers and other women who are at home. Rather, from Allah’s infinite wisdom and mercy, He made the religious responsibility of each gender consonant with the nature of their social roles.

As for praying in a congregation of women, the Hanafi position is that it is prohibitively disliked (makruh tahriman), because it is not established from the practice of the female Companions except through a couple of narrations, which are understood either as being from the early period of Islam or done to teach others how to pray.

As for praying in congregation with men, there is nothing wrong with it. In fact, if a man is unable to make it to the masjid for some reason, it is recommended for him to pray in congregation with his family, to get the reward.

However, it is generally disliked for women to go to the masjid justto pray in congregation, because it is reversing the nature of their religious responsibility, as we have seen. BUT, if they want to go to the masjid for other reasons, such as gaining religious knowledge, asking a Question, meeting other religious sisters [for good company is often not readily found at home or at school, and is a necessary fuel for one’s spiritual life], then there is nothing wrong with going to the masjid or praying in congregation there.

I hope that helps. I would encourage you to browse through the postings on the Hanafi List section, because you’ll find some useful answers, inshaAllah.

Wassalam,
Faraz Rabbani

This answer was indexed from Qibla.com, which used to have a repository of Islamic Q&A answered by various scholars. The website is no longer in existence. It has now been transformed into a learning portal with paid Islamic course offering under the brand of Kiflayn.