Bulugh al-Maram

Takhrij:
«أخرجه أبوداود، الصلاة، باب إمامة النساء، حديث:592، وابن خزيمة: 3 /89، حديث:1676، والبيهقي في الخلافيات ق4ب.»©Explanation:
From this hadith, it is understood that a woman can perform the obligatory duty of leading the prayer (imamah).
Whom can she lead in prayer? Some people have been misled by this, thinking that among the members of the household there would also be men; therefore, from this, it is established that a woman can also be the imam for men.
However, this is absolutely incorrect because it is obligatory for men to attend the mosque for the obligatory prayers, as has been mentioned earlier. Therefore, how can it be believed that men would leave following the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and pray behind a woman as their imam? Furthermore, in the detailed narration of Abu Dawud, in which the mention of the elderly mu’adhdhin giving the call to prayer is found, some people have argued from this that the mu’adhdhin must also have prayed behind her. But this is merely a possibility; in no hadith is there any explicit mention that the mu’adhdhin actually prayed behind her. Therefore, the predominant likelihood is that the mu’adhdhin, after giving the call to prayer, would have performed the prayer in the Prophet’s Mosque itself.
And Allah knows best.
Moreover, the hadith regarding the separation between the rows of men and women also supports this, that it is better for men to remain distant from women. Also, when Anas radi Allahu anhu, the orphan, and Umm Sulaym radi Allahu anha were led in congregation, Umm Sulaym did not stand even with her own children.
If a woman cannot stand with her own offspring, then how can she lead them in prayer? At the time of leading the congregation, a woman will not stand alone in a separate row like a male imam; rather, according to Imam Shawkani rahimahullah, she will stand in the middle of the first row with the women.
Aishah and Umm Salamah radi Allahu anhuma used to lead the prayer in this manner.
For details, see: (al-Musannaf by ‘Abd al-Razzaq: 3/141; al-Musannaf by Ibn Abi Shaybah, al-Salawat: 1/430; al-Muhalla by Ibn Hazm: 4/220).
© Hadith Narrator:
«ام ورقہ رضی اللہ عنہا » Umm Waraqah bint Nawfal or bint Abdullah ibn Harith ibn ‘Umayr.
She was from among the Ansar.
She was a memorizer of the Qur’an.
She sought permission from the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to participate in the Battle of Badr, but he did not grant her permission because she was destined to attain martyrdom in her own home.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam used to visit her.
He had named her “the martyr” (al-shahida).
She had two slaves (a male and a female), whom she had made mudabbir (i.e., that they would be freed after her death), but both of them together strangled her with a sheet at night and fled during the night.
Umar radi Allahu anhu had them arrested and crucified both of them.
They were the first people in Madinah Munawwarah to be crucified.
She was the woman who, with the permission of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, used to lead the women of her household in prayer, because she had memorized the Qur’an.