3 Hadith Explanations Why Women Can Lead Men in Prayer
C.J Ahmed-06.05.2023
Usually it is men who lead women during congregational prayer and Many scholars have given fatwas on this especially among the Kibar ul ulama (senior scholars) among the Salaf. Although generally women do not led men in prayers, it is possible for women to lead men during congregational prayers and there are authentic hadith proofs to prove this.
The argument put forward to that women cannot become imams when leading the prayers is not completely true.W e have to understand why a woman cannot lead the congregational prayer among men in the right context. In a hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah (Rali), the prophet (Sal) said,
Usually it is men who lead women during congregational prayer and Many scholars have given fatwas on this especially among the Kibar ul ulama (senior scholars) among the Salaf. Although generally women do not led men in prayers, it is possible for women to lead men during congregational prayers and there are authentic hadith proofs to prove this.
The argument put forward to that women cannot become imams when leading the prayers is not completely true.W e have to understand why a woman cannot lead the congregational prayer among men in the right context. In a hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah (Rali), the prophet (Sal) said,
- “The best rows for men are those are the front and the worst are those at the back, and the best rows for women are those at the back and the worst are those at the front.”
(Sahih Muslim and others)
The above reason why the best rows are the rows from the behind for women is because there must be no disturbance in prayer for men as it could cause fitnah if a women is leading them in prayer. This does not in any way mean hat women are inferior to men. what should be understood is that it could avert the concentration of a man if a woman is leading them. In a hadith narrated by Sahl b. Sa'd (Rali), - "I saw men having tied (the ends) of their lower garments around their necks, like children, due to shortage of cloth and offering their prayers behind the Messenger of Allah (Sal). One of the proclaimers said: O womenfolk, do not lift your heads till men raise (them)" .
(Bukhari and Muslim)
When a person is praying, there shouldn't be anything that disturbs the prayer and this is why the prophet (Sal) as mentioned in the above hadith ordered the women not to raise their heads because they could see the awrah of the men and that would disturb the concentration in prayer. There is evidence to prove that women can still lead men in prayer in their houses. In a hadith narrated by Umm Waraqah (Rali), - "The Messenger of Allah(Sal) used to visit her at her house. He appointed a mu’adhdhin to call adhan for her; and he commanded her to lead the inmates of her house in prayer. ‘Abd al-Rahman said: I saw her mu’adhdhin who was an old man".
(Abu Dawud-Graded Hasan Sahih by Sheikh Albani)
In the above hadith it is very clear that Umm Waraqah (Rali) lead the prayers as an imam among men in the house and from this we can understand that a woman can lead a prayer in a house if the men are all mahram among the house hold.Women can be leaders in teaching as Aisha (Rali) thought about fiqh to men on various occasions as narrated in many authentic hadiths and many others. A man can be a leader in one thing and a woman can be a leader in another but the leadership strengths differ from both the sexes. Women are stronger than men emotionally and physically, men are definitely stronger and this is proven in a scientific study published in "The journal of science and medicine"-September 2013 Volume 16, Issue 5, Pages E1–E3 (Link https://www.jsams.org/article/S1440-2440(13)00109-6/abstract). Islam is a religion of ease and mercy and Allah (Swt) has created men and women with equal rights but with different perspectives and strengths.