Can women lead congregational prayers?
Mu' meneen Brothers
and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa
Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be
upon all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
Assalam-o-Alaikum. Dear Brother Burhan. This time i am here with some matters
which are causing much confusion to me.Please give early reply as soon as
possible ):
Is it forbidden
for a woman to lead the Jama`at prayers; is it mentioned in some authentic
Hadith that a woman can not be made the Imam of the congregational prayers of
women ???
Please give
detailed and xplicit replies to these questions.
Over to you with
kind regards.
(There may be some
grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not
change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our
readers for circulation in confidentiality.)
Answer:
Can women lead congregational prayers?
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and
ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He
allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there
is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam,
no dai, nobody!) worthy of
worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His
slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
You question: Is it forbidden for a woman to lead the
Jama`at prayers; is it mentioned in some authentic Hadith that a woman can not
be made the Imam of the congregational prayers of women ???
Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh
2.58
It is preferred to
have a woman imam for women
Hadrat Aishah
(r.a.), the wife of the Prophet
(saws), used to lead the women in salah
and stand with the women in the middle of the first row. Hadrat Umm Salamah (r.a.), the wife of the Prophet (saws), would also do so. The Prophet (saws) appointed Waraqah to go and make the adhan
for her, while he instructed her to
lead the women of her household in the obligatory prayers.
There is absolutely no
restriction for a woman to lead congregational prayers of women (only); the one difference is that the woman imam
will not stand ahead of the congregation,
but rather with the women in the middle of the first row.
Whatever written of Truth and
benefit is only due to Allahs Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error
is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He
is the Only Source of Strength.
Your Brother in
Islam,
Burhan
Wister