Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
What are the rulings regarding women standing in line with men (muḥādhāt) during prayer?
In congregational prayer, the rows of women are to be behind the rows of men.
A woman—or women—should not stand beside or in line with men in prayer.
However, if due to necessity, mistake, or lack of space, a woman happens to stand beside a man, the prayer remains valid, because there is no authentic evidence in the Qur’an or Sunnah declaring such a situation to invalidate the prayer.
Some jurists (especially among later Ḥanafī scholars) have constructed several detailed scenarios regarding muḥādhāt (a woman standing parallel to a man), such as:
① If a woman stands ahead of or beside the Imām —
they claim this invalidates the prayer of the Imām, that woman, and all male followers.
② If a woman stands between the Imām and male followers —
they assert that one woman invalidates the prayer of one man behind her;
two women invalidate the prayer of two men;
and three or more women invalidate the prayer of all the men behind them.
③ If a woman stands among the men in a row,
then they argue one woman invalidates the prayer of three men —
the man to her right, the one to her left, and the one directly behind her —
and as the number of women increases, the invalidation extends to more men.
④ If women are on one side of a row and men on the other,
with no barrier between them, they claim only the prayer of the man directly beside the woman is invalid.
⑤ If the woman is separated by a raised platform or structure at least the height of a person,
then this barrier prevents invalidation.
(These complex scenarios are discussed in: Fatāwā Dār al-ʿUlūm Zakariyya, 2/276 by Mufti Riḍā al-Ḥaqq)
Shaykh Amunpuri remarks that such detailed hypothetical divisions have no foundation in the Qur’an, Sunnah, or sound reasoning.
To declare someone’s prayer invalid without clear textual evidence is a grave matter and an abuse of Sharīʿah.
“A woman should not stand in the same row with men because of the risk of temptation (fitnah).
However, if she does stand beside men, then according to the majority of scholars, her prayer is valid.
The Ḥanafīs say her prayer is valid, but the man’s prayer beside her becomes invalid — and this is a very strange ruling.
Some tried to justify it by citing the report attributed to Ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه that the Prophet ﷺ said:
‘Put the women behind, as Allah has placed them behind.’
They interpret this as a mandatory rule of position.
But there is no place outside of prayer where women have been commanded to stand behind men.
Even if this were an obligation, failing to observe it would not invalidate the prayer.
Just as one who prays in a usurped garment is sinful but his prayer is valid,
how then could the prayer of a man be invalidated merely because a woman stood beside him unintentionally?
To record such a fatwā is enough; there is no need even to refute it.”
(Fatḥ al-Bārī, 2/212)
Even those schools that hold the prayer invalid in such a case make exceptions, such as in:
where men and women often stand parallel during crowded prayers, and no scholar deems such prayers invalid.
ʿAllāmah Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī al-Ḥanafī رحمه الله (d. 1014 AH) stated:
"لا دلالة فيه على إبطال الصلاة حال المحاذاة"
“There is no evidence that prayer becomes invalid merely due to parallel standing (muḥādhāt).”
(Sharḥ al-Niqāyah, 1/204)
Mufti Riḍā al-Ḥaqq (Dār al-ʿUlūm Zakariyya, South Africa) wrote:
“Our respected teacher, the Grand Mufti of Pakistan, Mawlānā Mufti Walī Ḥasan رحمه الله,
also ruled that the prayer remains valid in the Ḥaram even with muḥādhāt.”
(Fatāwā Dār al-ʿUlūm Zakariyya, 2/281)
“أخروهن حيث أخرهن الله” — “Put the women behind, as Allah has placed them behind.”
However, this report is not authentic as a marfūʿ ḥadīth (Prophetic statement):
Hence, there is no sound evidence to claim that a man’s prayer becomes invalid merely because a woman stands beside him.
❖ Question:
What are the rulings regarding women standing in line with men (muḥādhāt) during prayer?
✿ Answer:
In congregational prayer, the rows of women are to be behind the rows of men.
A woman—or women—should not stand beside or in line with men in prayer.
However, if due to necessity, mistake, or lack of space, a woman happens to stand beside a man, the prayer remains valid, because there is no authentic evidence in the Qur’an or Sunnah declaring such a situation to invalidate the prayer.
❀ Detailed Discussion of Juristic Views:
Some jurists (especially among later Ḥanafī scholars) have constructed several detailed scenarios regarding muḥādhāt (a woman standing parallel to a man), such as:
① If a woman stands ahead of or beside the Imām —
they claim this invalidates the prayer of the Imām, that woman, and all male followers.
② If a woman stands between the Imām and male followers —
they assert that one woman invalidates the prayer of one man behind her;
two women invalidate the prayer of two men;
and three or more women invalidate the prayer of all the men behind them.
③ If a woman stands among the men in a row,
then they argue one woman invalidates the prayer of three men —
the man to her right, the one to her left, and the one directly behind her —
and as the number of women increases, the invalidation extends to more men.
④ If women are on one side of a row and men on the other,
with no barrier between them, they claim only the prayer of the man directly beside the woman is invalid.
⑤ If the woman is separated by a raised platform or structure at least the height of a person,
then this barrier prevents invalidation.
(These complex scenarios are discussed in: Fatāwā Dār al-ʿUlūm Zakariyya, 2/276 by Mufti Riḍā al-Ḥaqq)
Shaykh Amunpuri remarks that such detailed hypothetical divisions have no foundation in the Qur’an, Sunnah, or sound reasoning.
To declare someone’s prayer invalid without clear textual evidence is a grave matter and an abuse of Sharīʿah.
❀ Statement of Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī رحمه الله (d. 852 AH):
“A woman should not stand in the same row with men because of the risk of temptation (fitnah).
However, if she does stand beside men, then according to the majority of scholars, her prayer is valid.
The Ḥanafīs say her prayer is valid, but the man’s prayer beside her becomes invalid — and this is a very strange ruling.
Some tried to justify it by citing the report attributed to Ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه that the Prophet ﷺ said:
‘Put the women behind, as Allah has placed them behind.’
They interpret this as a mandatory rule of position.
But there is no place outside of prayer where women have been commanded to stand behind men.
Even if this were an obligation, failing to observe it would not invalidate the prayer.
Just as one who prays in a usurped garment is sinful but his prayer is valid,
how then could the prayer of a man be invalidated merely because a woman stood beside him unintentionally?
To record such a fatwā is enough; there is no need even to refute it.”
(Fatḥ al-Bārī, 2/212)
❀ Additional Scholarly Opinions:
Even those schools that hold the prayer invalid in such a case make exceptions, such as in:
- Al-Masjid al-Ḥarām (Makkah) and
- Al-Masjid al-Nabawī (Madinah) —
where men and women often stand parallel during crowded prayers, and no scholar deems such prayers invalid.
ʿAllāmah Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī al-Ḥanafī رحمه الله (d. 1014 AH) stated:
"لا دلالة فيه على إبطال الصلاة حال المحاذاة"
“There is no evidence that prayer becomes invalid merely due to parallel standing (muḥādhāt).”
(Sharḥ al-Niqāyah, 1/204)
Mufti Riḍā al-Ḥaqq (Dār al-ʿUlūm Zakariyya, South Africa) wrote:
“Our respected teacher, the Grand Mufti of Pakistan, Mawlānā Mufti Walī Ḥasan رحمه الله,
also ruled that the prayer remains valid in the Ḥaram even with muḥādhāt.”
(Fatāwā Dār al-ʿUlūm Zakariyya, 2/281)
❀ About the Ḥadīth:
“أخروهن حيث أخرهن الله” — “Put the women behind, as Allah has placed them behind.”
- Reported by ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه.
- Sources: Muṣannaf ʿAbd al-Razzāq (3/149, ḥadīth 5115), Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaymah (1700), al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr by al-Ṭabarānī (9/295).
However, this report is not authentic as a marfūʿ ḥadīth (Prophetic statement):
- Its chain contains Sulaymān ibn Mihrān al-Aʿmash, who narrates ʿanʿanah (ambiguous transmission).
- Imām Ibn Khuzaymah said: “This report is mawqūf (statement of Ibn Masʿūd), not marfūʿ (from the Prophet ﷺ).”
- Al-Zaylaʿī al-Ḥanafī: “Its marfūʿ attribution is strange.” (Naṣb al-Rāyah, 2/36)
- Ibn al-Humām al-Ḥanafī: “Its being marfūʿ is not established, let alone being well-known.” (Fatḥ al-Qadīr, 1/360)
- Al-ʿAynī al-Ḥanafī: “It is not marfūʿ.” (al-Bināyah, 2/342)
Hence, there is no sound evidence to claim that a man’s prayer becomes invalid merely because a woman stands beside him.
Summary:
- Women should form rows behind the men, not beside them.
- If a woman stands parallel to men by mistake or necessity, the prayer remains valid.
- Declaring prayers invalid without clear proof from Qur’an or Sunnah is unjustified.
- The majority of scholars — including Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar, Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī, and others — affirm that muḥādhāt does not nullify prayer.
- The weak report attributed to Ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه cannot serve as evidence for invalidation.
