Women leading prayer

**hissa** · 03-05-2007

In my Islam course that I'm taking in university, a group of students did a presentation on the rights of women in islam. Their presentation was fairly good, until they started to state how women in islam were even giving equal rights to lead prayer (a mixed gender prayer), and they used Umm Waraqa as "evidence" to prove their point. So the whole time I was like.. wha??

Ok, Islam does not allow women as imans in mixed congregational prayer, so can someone explain this to me:

Umm Waraqa bint Abdallah, an Ansari woman who was well versed in the Qurân, was instructed by Prophet Muhammad to lead ahl dariha (ahl dariha means the people of her home where 'dar' means home and can refer to one’s residence, neighborhood, or village), which consisted of both men and women, in prayer. The "people of Umm Waraqa’s home" were so numerous that Prophet Muhammad appointed a muezzin for her. Umm Waraqa was one of the few to hand down the Qurân before it was written.

**Umm Yoosuf** · 03-05-2007

I hope this will help:

If women gather together in one house in accordance with the conditions mentioned above, it is permissible for them to pray in congregation. The one who is leading them in prayer should stand in the middle of the (first) row, not out in front, and she should not lead men in prayer even if they are her mahrams. She should recite our loud just as men do in the prayers where reciting out loud is required, so long as no men except her mahrams can hear her voice.

It was narrated that Umm Waraqah bint ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Nawfal al-Ansaariyyah asked the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) for permission to appoint a muezzin in her house who would call her to prayer, and he told her to lead the people of her household in prayer.

Narrated by Abu Dawood, 591; classed as hasan by Shaykh al-Albaani in Irwa’ al-Ghaleel, 493.

And it was narrated from ‘Aa’ishah that she would give the call to prayer and lead other women in prayer, standing in the middle of the row.

And ‘Aa’ishah led women in obligatory prayers, standing in the midst of them.

And it was narrated that Hujayrah bint Haseen said: Umm Salamaah led us in prayer standing in the midst of the women.

And it was narrated from Umm al-Hasan that she saw Umm Salamah, the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), leading women in prayer, standing with them in their row.

Shaykh al-Albaani (may Allaah have mercy on him) said, after narrating these reports:

In conclusion, these reports are sound and may be acted upon, especially since they confirm the general meaning of the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “Women are the twin halves of men…”

Sifat Salaat al-Nabi (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), p. 153-155.

Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

She should recite out loud in prayers where it is required to recite out loud, but if there are any men present, she should not recite out loud, unless they are her mahrams, in which case she may do so.

Al-Mughni, 2/17

http://www.islam-qa.com/special/inde...site=14&ln=eng

**Umar001** · 03-05-2007

Originally Posted by hissa

In my Islam course that I'm taking in university, a group of students did a presentation on the rights of women in islam. Their presentation was fairly good, until they started to state how women in islam were even giving equal rights to lead prayer (a mixed gender prayer), and they used Umm Waraqa as "evidence" to prove their point. So the whole time I was like.. wha??

Ok, Islam does not allow women as imans in mixed congregational prayer, so can someone explain this to me:

Umm Waraqa bint Abdallah, an Ansari woman who was well versed in the Qurân, was instructed by Prophet Muhammad to lead ahl dariha (ahl dariha means the people of her home where 'dar' means home and can refer to one’s residence, neighborhood, or village), which consisted of both men and women, in prayer. The "people of Umm Waraqa’s home" were so numerous that Prophet Muhammad appointed a muezzin for her. Umm Waraqa was one of the few to hand down the Qurân before it was written.

Wa Aleykum Salam Sister,

First you need to explain many points to them on this matter.

But to come to the narration, then there is alot of assumption, look at what is said:

The "people of Umm Waraqa’s home" were so numerous that Prophet Muhammad appointed a muezzin for her.

Someone making Athan does not mean that there is a number of people present, this is either a mistake or a lie, and a grave one of the either, it could be two people present, or even ONE!!

On the authority of Uqbah ibn Amir (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I heard the messenger of Allah (PBUH) say:

Your Lord delights at a shepherd who, on the peak of a mountain crag, gives the call to prayer and prays. Then Allah (glorified and exalted be He) say: Look at this servant of Mine, he gives the call to prayer and performs the prayers; he is in awe of Me. I have forgiven My servant [his sins] and have admitted him to Paradise.

It was related by an-Nasa'i with a good chain of authorities.

So even one person can give the call for prayer, it does not mean that the Athan is given so there must be alot of people, that alone shows the lack of knowledge of those who say such things!!

(ahl dariha means the people of her home where 'dar' means home and can refer to one’s residence, neighborhood, or village)

What have the scholars understood it to mean, what in the arabic language does it mean when used in this context?

Last but not least, there are other narrations that show that the people she was leading were other women!!

The narration of ad-Daaraqutnee48 specifies that Umm Waraqah was leading the women of her household in prayer. This becomes clearer when we consider that the narrations of al-Haakim49, al-Bayhaqee50, and Abu Nu'aym51 state that she was leading obligatory prayers. We know the importance that the Prophet, (sallallaahu 'aleyhi wa sallam' placed upon males' attending the obligatory prayers in the masjid;...

Taken from WHAT DID THE PROPHET DO? AN EVALUATION OF THE "ISLAMIC BASIS" OF A FEMALE LED PRAYER

The narrations numbers had footnotes:

48 At-Ta'leew al-Mughnee 'alaa Sunan ad-Daaraqutnee (Pakistan: Nashr as-Sunnah) vol. 1, p. 279. Ahmed al-Banna mentions this narration in his Buloogh al-Amaanee, which is Reda's primary source in her research, on the very page to which Reda refers us in her footnote. It would, accordingly, be difficult to avoid the conclusion that she was aware of this clarifying narration, and deliberately concealed it fom her readers.
49 #733
50 As-Sunnan al-Kubraa (Riyadh: Maktabah ar-Rushd, 1425) vol.3, p.194
51 Hilyah al-Awliyaa' vol.2, p.63

Also, to remove doubt the article goes on to say:

This, accordingly, is what most scholars have understood the hadeeth to mean: that Umm Waraqah was leading the female members of her household. Ibn Khuzaymah reported the hadeeth in his Saheeh under the heading, "A Woman Leading Other Women in the Obligatory Prayer."52 Ad-Daaraqutnee placed it in a chapter he entitled, "Women Praying with a Woman Leading Them."53 And Al-Bayhaqee's heading was even more explicit: "A Woman Leading Other Women, Not Men."54

Footnotes:

52 #1676
53 At-Ta'leeq al-Mughnee 'alaa Sunan ad-Daaraqutnee; vol.1, p. 279
54 As-Sunan As- Sughraa (555)

I hope that helps insha'Allah.

**Skillganon** · 03-05-2007

Also to refer to:

1. Women leading prayers

2. Ruling on woman being imaam for men

3. Where should a woman stand when leading other women in prayer, and the preference for women to pray in their homes

4. Ruling on a woman leading men in prayer

5. sisters praying in congregation

**AHMED_GUREY** · 03-05-2007

In Somalia female institutions called Abay Siti sprung up in the 18th century and those sisters would come together and pray and help eachother out with day to day stuff

more recent

In the early 1960s, Samatar shows, the education of girls had become a topic of intense debate in Gabiley, as government efforts to promote girls’ education clashed with local discourses about girls’ natural role as future housewives. Into this fray in the 1970s stepped Sheikh Marian, a female Islamic scholar who brought religious education to local women—a prerequisite for entry into state schools. A women’s mosque was built under her leadership, but it continued to lack the support of local townsmen, even after it was damaged in the civil unrest of the 1980s. At the heart of the controversy over the women’s mosque, Samatar argues, has been a conflict over views of women’s rightful geographical place and their place within Islam. As Samatar notes, the women who built the mosque were not informed by Western feminist ideology or by anti-Islamic sentiment. Rather, “they felt that Islamic practice in this society un-duly restricted women’s opportunities to learn and interpret Islamic texts and traditions,” and the radicalism of this project lay in its questioning of the marginalization of women in local Islamic practice.

another excerpt

Sheikh Marian also joined the town women’s Sitaad centre, traditional women’s devotional space where they sang religious songs and discussed women’s concerns. These women decided to build Somalia’s first women’s mosque. The purpose of the mosque has been to create an autonomous women’s space for praying and for studying Islam. More women are knowledgeable about Islam in Gabiley as a result of this effort. It also generated debate between groups based on the women’s mosque and others who subscribe to a more purist version of the Islamic interpretation of women and of Islam.

The Women's mosque in Gabiley -A.I Samatar

**north_malaysian** · 03-05-2007

Muslims in China have Female Imams leading female congregations in Women-only mosques...

I've heard there are all-women mosques in comoros and Maldives too.

**AHMED_GUREY** · 03-05-2007

^very interesting N.Malaysian thanks!

At a tiny courtyard mosque tucked down a back alley in China's Muslim heartland, Wang Shouying leads other Muslim women in prayers and chants.

Every day, Ms. Wang dons a green velvet robe and white scarf and preaches to dozens of women at the Little White Mosque in western China's Ningxia region.

She is a keeper of a centuries-old tradition that gives women a leading role in a largely male-dominated faith. She is a female imam or "ahong," pronounced ah-hung, from the Persian word "akhund" for "the learned."

"We need to train and educate our female comrades how to be good Muslims," Ms. Wang said between prayer sessions. "Women ahong are the best qualified to do this because they can relate to the female faithful in ways the male ahongs can't."

China: Female Imams a tradition in Chinese mosques

**north_malaysian** · 03-06-2007

Originally Posted by AHMED_GUREY

^very interesting N.Malaysian thanks!

At a tiny courtyard mosque tucked down a back alley in China's Muslim heartland, Wang Shouying leads other Muslim women in prayers and chants.

Every day, Ms. Wang dons a green velvet robe and white scarf and preaches to dozens of women at the Little White Mosque in western China's Ningxia region.

She is a keeper of a centuries-old tradition that gives women a leading role in a largely male-dominated faith. She is a female imam or "ahong," pronounced ah-hung, from the Persian word "akhund" for "the learned."

"We need to train and educate our female comrades how to be good Muslims," Ms. Wang said between prayer sessions. "Women ahong are the best qualified to do this because they can relate to the female faithful in ways the male ahongs can't."

China: Female Imams a tradition in Chinese mosques

I'm proud of my muslim sisters in China...

**syilla** · 03-06-2007

Originally Posted by north_malaysian

Muslims in China have Female Imams leading female congregations in Women-only mosques...

I've heard there are all-women mosques in comoros and Maldives too.

we have it too in Jeram selangor but not in mosque but in surau. They do it especially during the eid.

**north_malaysian** · 03-06-2007

Originally Posted by syilla

we have it too in Jeram selangor but not in mosque but in surau. They do it especially during the eid.

Eik... I dont know about it.

They do Eid Prayers there?.... wow.

The only place I've seen women performing Juma'ah Prayers (Sembahyang Jumaat) is International Islamic University Grand Mosque.

I wonder why there are no women performing it elsewhere in the country.