Answered by SunniPath Answer Service Team
Does the following answer from a previous question apply to women as well?
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful & Compassionate
From a previous question answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani:
There is scholarly consensus (ijma`) that:
a) the Friday prayer is not obligatory for women; and
b) if a woman performs the Friday prayer, it is valid. [Nawawi, al-Majmu`, 4.350, quoting Ibn al-Mundhir and others]
The reason why it is not obligatory for women to perform the Friday prayer is because of the hardship and possible harm entailed in them doing so especially in the case of mothers and others. However, if a woman goes ahead and attends the Friday prayer, it counts because she bore the hardship entailed. [Sarakhsi, al-Mabsut; Nawawi, al-Majmu`]
Wassalam,
SunniPath Fiqh Team