There is no difference between the prayer of women and men
It has become common among the public that the prayer of women is different from that of men, whereas the reality is that the prayer of women is exactly the same as that of men. That is, women should also perform the prayer in the same manner as men do. I will clarify this in the light of texts so that you can be certain that indeed women have to perform the prayer just like men.
First, I want to present experience and observation to prepare the mind to understand the arguments rationally. It is that the concept and custom of women praying separately in our society is a later development. Since the time people abandoned Muhammad, peace be upon him, and started appointing others as their imam and began following them, the women of these imitative sects have been praying differently from men because the imitative scholars have invented a completely specific artificial method for women to pray in a compact manner. Women raising their hands, folding their hands, bowing, prostrating, sitting—all these have been made different from men, whereas most of us have visited the Two Holy Mosques and have seen Arab women praying like men. These Arab women have been praying like men since the time of the Prophet and the era of the Companions. Islam first came here and spread to the world from here, so the method of prayer here informs us that the correct and original way for women to pray is the same way Arab women pray. It is not that only Arab women pray like men; rather, wherever sisters live in the world who act according to the Quran and Hadith without imitation, they pray like men because the Lawgiver, Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, taught only one method of prayer. He did not teach a separate method of prayer for men and a different one for women.
Now let us move towards the arguments. First, consider the Quran, in which Allah Almighty has revealed one single book in the form of the Quran. All the verses include both men and women; it is not that there is a separate Quran for women and a separate Quran for men. However, if a verse is specifically for women or men, it will be considered specific to that gender, but in verses that are not specific, women are included along with men. The exact same situation applies to Hadith as well. In the six famous and authentic books of Hadith (Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawood, Nasa’i, Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah), each contains a chapter titled Kitab al-Salat (Book of Prayer). Under this chapter, from beginning to end, all the complete details of prayer, including the number of units (rak’ahs), procedures, and supplications, are present. When these hadiths are compiled, they number in the hundreds, but among these hundreds of hadiths, there is not a single hadith that states that the prayer of men is different from the prayer of women.
A woman from Pakistan’s renowned Hanafi institution “Al-Jamia Al-Banuriya Al-Alamiya” asked for a reference regarding women’s prayer in Islam, as she is about to start praying. She requested references only from the Sahih Sitta (the six authentic books), specifically about prostration and Tashahhud, and asked not to refer to any other books. In response, the global Hanafi institution stated that requesting references solely from Sahih Sitta is a great audacity. They further wrote that the questioner should read the method of prayer from Bahishti Zewar and pray accordingly, in short. You can see this fatwa on the institution’s website (www.onlinefatawa.com) under ID 32164. From this fatwa, you can understand that those who describe a separate method of prayer for women do not have a single evidence from the primary hadith collections.
Now understand a fundamental point that women are like men in Islamic legal matters, meaning that whatever Islam has commanded, women are also included in that command except for exceptional rulings that are specific to men or women. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
إنما النساء شقائق الرجال۔
(As-Silsilah As-Saheehah: 2863)
Translation: Women are like men (in Islamic rulings).
Keeping this saying of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in mind, observe his most important statement regarding the prayer of women and men. Abu Sulayman Malik bin Hawarith (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated:
أتينا النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم، ونحن شببة متقاربون، فأقمنا عنده عشرين ليلة، فظن أنا اشتقنا أهلنا، وسألنا عمن تركنا في أهلنا فأحبرناه، وكان رفيقا رحيما، فقال: ارجعوا إلى أهليكم، فعلموهم ومروهم، وصلوا كما رأيتموني أصلي، وإذا حضرت الصلاة، فليؤذن لكم أحدكم، ثم ليؤمكم أكبركم۔
(Sahih al-Bukhari: 631, 7246, 6008, Read the full hadith here)
Translation: We came to Medina in the presence of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and we were all young and of the same age. We stayed with the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ for several days. Then the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ thought that we might be missing our families, and he asked us about those whom we had left at our homes. We told the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ everything. He was very gentle and merciful. He ﷺ said, “You should return to your homes and teach your people the religion and inform them. And you should pray as you have seen me pray. When it is time for prayer, one of you should call the Adhan, and then the eldest among you should lead the prayer.”
If you look deeply into this entire hadith, it becomes clear that a few companions of the Prophet ﷺ learned the religion and the method of prayer from him and then returned home. The Prophet ﷺ instructed them to go and teach these matters to their family members and to pray in the same way they had seen him pray throughout the day. The family members include the wife as well. If the method of prayer for women were different, the Prophet ﷺ would have clearly explained to them that men should pray like him, and women at home should be taught a different method of prayer separate from men. He did not say this, implying that the method of prayer for women is the same as that for men. Regarding this, the hadith “Pray as you have seen me praying” is decisive. Also, this hadith is general; under the generality of the hadith, women are included because women are like men in Shariah rulings. You have already understood the evidence about this above.
The aforementioned hadith ’’وصلوا كما رأيتموني أصلي‘‘ appears in Sahih Bukhari in three places. Now, a clear hadith from Sahih Muslim which explains that the prayer of a woman and a man is exactly the same. Thus, Sayyid Nasahil bin Saad (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates:
ولقد رأيت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قام عليه فكبر وكبر الناس وراءه، وهو على المنبر، ثم رفع فنزل القهقرى حتى سجد في أصل المنبر، ثم عاد، حتى فرغ من آخر صلاته، ثم أقبل على الناس فقال: يا أيها الناس إني صنعت هذا لتأتموا بي، ولتعلموا صلاتي۔
(Sahih Muslim: 1216, Read the full hadith here)
Translation: And I saw that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, stood on it (the pulpit) and said Takbir. The people also said Takbir behind him while he was on the pulpit. Then the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, raised his head from Ruku and descended with his feet backward until he prostrated at the base of the pulpit. Then he returned until he finished the prayer. After that, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, turned to the people and said: O people! I did this so that you may follow me and learn to pray like me.
From this hadith, it is understood that the Prophet ﷺ climbed the pulpit and led the prayer to teach the companions how to pray so that the manner and performance of the prayer could be clearly observed. We also know that women prayed behind you in congregation in the Prophet’s Mosque. When you ﷺ led the prayer from the pulpit, you addressed the companions and said: “O people! I did this so that you may follow me and learn to pray as I do.” Was this clear statement not for the women? And was the way you prayed not for the women? Absolutely it was. Your method of praying on the pulpit and your clear command to learn the method of prayer from you clearly indicates that the method of prayer for women and men is exactly the same. If there had been a difference in the method of prayer for women, then when you taught the men prayer from the pulpit in the Prophet’s Mosque, you would have separately taught the women at the same time, but you did not do so, which is solid evidence that women pray just like men.
Prayer is an act of worship; Jibril (peace be upon him) descended from the heavens and taught the Prophet (peace be upon him) how to pray and informed him about the timings of the prayers. In Sahih Bukhari, Abu Masood (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that he heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say:
سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول: نزل جبريل فأمني، فصليت معه، ثم صليت معه، ثم صليت معه، ثم صليت معه، ثم صليت معه يحسب بأصابعه خمس صلوات۔
(Sahih al-Bukhari: 3221, Read the full hadith here)
Translation: Jibril (peace be upon him) descended and taught me how to pray. I prayed with him, then I prayed with him at another time, then I prayed with him again, then I prayed with him again, then I prayed with him again. He counted the five prayers on his fingers and showed me.
Prayer is an act of worship in which not even the smallest action can be performed according to one’s own will; it is revealed by Allah. How can any imam or scholar, two hundred years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, have the authority to describe a different method of prayer for women, or how can any follower have permission to worship Allah according to the sayings of scholars instead of the Hadith of the Prophet? We see that among the Hanafis, the prayer of women is described as completely different from that of men. This is an innovation in worship and a distortion of Allah’s religion, may Allah protect us.
From all the aforementioned evidence, it is clear that the prayer of women is like that of men, yet I consider it appropriate to mention a specific evidence related only to women.
Regarding the esteemed companion Abu Al-Darda Al-Ansari رضي الله عنه‘s wife, Umm Al-Darda رضي الله عنها, the jurist of the Ummah, the Commander of the Faithful in Hadith, Imam Bukhari رحمه الله, mentioned in his three books that Umm Al-Darda used to perform prayer like men. The knowledge of this evidence is obtained along with the texts of all three books.
The method of a woman’s prayer in Imam Bukhari’s first book:
In the most authentic book on earth after the Quran, Sahih Bukhari, under the chapter “باب سنةِ الجلوس في التشهد” (Chapter: The Sunnah way of sitting in Tashahhud), Imam Bukhari has narrated:
وكانت ام الدرداء تجلس في صلاتها جلسة الرجل وكانت فقيهة.
Translation: Umm Al-Darda رضي الله عنها was a jurist and she used to sit in prayer (at the time of Tashahhud) like men, meaning Umm Al-Darda was a scholar and jurist who performed Tashahhud in prayer like men.
[Sahih Al-Bukhari / Book of Adhan (Description of Prayer) / Hadith: Q827]
The method of a woman’s prayer in Imam Bukhari’s second book:
Abd Rabbah bin Sulaiman bin Umair Al-Shami رحمه الله says:
رأيت أم الدرداء ترفع يديها في الصلاة حدو منكبيها حين تفتتح الصلاة ، وحين تركع وإذا قال: سمع الله لمن حمده رفعت يديها ، وقالت : ربنا ولك الحمد ۔
(Part on raising hands for Bukhari: 24)
Translation: I saw Umm al-Darda رضي الله تعالى عنها raising her hands up to her shoulders in prayer. When she started the prayer and when she bowed. And when the (Imam) سمع اللہ لمن حمدہ said, she would raise her hands and say ’’ر بنا ولک الحمد ۔‘‘.
The method of a woman’s prayer in Imam Bukhari’s third book:
Imam Bukhari has mentioned the suspended narration of Sahih Bukhari with these words in his
through Maqhul, and Sheikh Al-Albani, may Allah have mercy on him, has declared its chain authentic on page
.
This particular hadith in the chapter on women is a special proof that women also perform prayer just like men. If someone says about this hadith that only one woman prayed like men and the rest of the women did not pray like men, it is sheer ignorance and misunderstanding. This hadith does not explicitly mention that only one woman prayed like men; rather, the narrator describes the manner of sitting of the woman he saw.
Here, an important scholarly point is also understood that if the prayer of this Sahabiyyah was against the Sunnah, the narrator would have certainly objected or mentioned that the woman was opposing the Sunnah in prayer. The narrator merely describing the manner is evidence that the prayer of the woman is like that of men, and the common women of that era also prayed like men.
In this context, also consider a narration related to prostration from the Sahihayn, narrated by Anas bin Malik رضي الله عنه who said that the Prophet Muhammad صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم said:
اعتدلوا في السجود، ولا يبسط أحدكم ذراعيه انبساط الكلب۔
(Sahih al-Bukhari: 822, Read the Hadith here)
Translation: Maintain moderation in prostration and none of you should spread his arms like a dog.
In this hadith, the Prophet صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم addressed everyone and said that none of you should spread your arms like a dog during prostration. Does this command include women? Absolutely, it does. Based on this hadith, women should also perform prostration in the same manner as men do and avoid the posture resembling that of dogs while prostrating.
In summary, the entire discussion concludes that a woman should perform her prayer exactly in the same manner as a man does, and among men, the one who prays like the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. The intention, standing for prayer, the takbirs of raising the hands, standing, bowing, rising from bowing, prostration, sitting, final sitting, and salam—all should be according to the guidance of the Hadith. All these actions are the same for both men and women, just as women will perform the same number of rak’ahs as men do, and during the prayer, they will recite the same words that men recite. That is, there is no difference between men and women in the number of rak’ahs, nor in the recitations and supplications, nor in the manner and characteristics of the prayer, because there is no valid evidence for any distinction between them.
Finally, I want to dispel the misconceptions of those who, in the name of women’s chastity, modesty, and decency, invent an artificial method of prayer for them based on modesty. The followers forbid their women from going to the mosque, yet they still devise a separate method of prayer for women. However, during the time of the Prophet ﷺ, women used to attend the Prophet’s Mosque and pray behind the Messenger. If modesty were truly considered, the prayer of women attending the mosque should have been different because they prayed in the same mosque with men, yet the Prophet ﷺ did not prescribe a separate prayer for women.
Undoubtedly, a woman is a woman; she is a matter of modesty and covering. Therefore, regarding prayer, the appropriate rulings for women were explained by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). Consider the following hadiths on this matter:
◈ A woman’s prayer is better in her home than in the mosque. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
صلاة المرأة في بيتها أفضل من صلاتها في حجرتها وصلاتها في مخدعها أفضل من صلاتها في بيتها۔
Translation: A woman’s prayer is more virtuous inside her room than in the courtyard; indeed, it is more virtuous inside the inner room than in the outer room.
◈ A woman can also pray in the mosque but should not come wearing perfume. Zainab Thaqafiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
إذا خرجت إحداكن إلى المسجد فلا تقربن طيبا۔
(Sahih al-Jami’: 501)
Translation: When any of you women goes to the mosque, she should not come near perfume.
◈ A mature woman should not pray without a dupatta (head covering). It is narrated from Umm al-Mu’minin Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
لا يقبل الله صلاة حائض إلا بخمار۔
Translation : Allah does not accept the prayer of an adult woman without a veil.
◈ When women and men pray together in the mosque, the women’s row will be behind the men’s row. Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه reports that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
خير صفوف الرجال أولها وشرها آخرها ، وخير صفوف النساء آخرها وشرها أولها۔
Translation : The best rows for men are the first rows and the worst are the last rows. For women, the worst row is the first row (when the men’s rows are near them) and the good row is the last row (which is far from the men).
◈ A woman cannot lead men in prayer, nor can she raise her voice while praying with men. If the male imam makes a mistake, even in such a necessity, she will not raise her voice but will warn the imam of the mistake by striking one hand on the other. It is narrated from Suhail bin Sa’d رضي الله عنه that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
التسبيح للرجال، والتصفيح للنساء۔
Translation: Tasfiq (specifically striking one hand with the other) is for women, and Tasbeeh (saying SubhanAllah) is for men. All these rulings are related to protecting women from temptation, safeguarding their chastity and modesty, and respecting their shyness and modesty. These rulings do not mean that women’s prayer is different from men’s; rather, it means that a woman’s prayer is the same as men’s, but beneficial rulings have also been stated in their favor, keeping in mind their chastity.
Some people deceive the community by saying that since women are given separate rulings from men, therefore their prayer is different from men’s. This is outright deception. Here, certain separate rulings are given to women out of consideration for their modesty, but this does not mean that the method of women’s prayer is different from men’s. Understand it like this: the Imam will first say the opening Takbeer (Takbeer al-Tahrima) and start the prayer; whether the follower is a man or a woman, the follower will say Takbeer after the Imam and enter the prayer. No follower will say Takbeer before the Imam. Then, in all the conditions of the prayer, the Imam will be first, and the follower will follow behind the Imam. Among the followers, the one who has more knowledge of the Quran will become the Imam; those who are more intelligent and aware will stand closer to the Imam, then those behind them, and then those after them. In the rows, adult men will be in front, and children will be in the rows behind. Does this mean that men’s prayer is different from men’s? Absolutely not. These are certain rulings related to prayer, but the method is the same. Similarly, there are some specific issues related to women’s prayer, but their method of prayer is the same as that of men.
Some people deceive the Ummah by saying that Hajj must be performed according to the method of the Prophet ﷺ, but women should not perform ramal during the Tawaf al-Sa’i; rather, they should walk slowly. There is no separate evidence for women walking slowly. Scholars, considering the modesty of women, instruct them to walk slowly. Similarly, there is the issue of prayer. Due to the modesty of women, they are told to pray in a compact manner.
The answer to this is that, firstly, it is wrong to equate prayer with Tawaf al-Sa’i during Hajj. During Tawaf al-Sa’i, a person can talk, eat, laugh, sit if tired, etc., but these actions are forbidden in prayer; in fact, such actions would invalidate the prayer.
Secondly: The complete method of performing Salah has been taught to us by the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, which includes both women and men. Therefore, there is absolutely no need to learn the method of Salah from anyone else. As I have mentioned before, no one will act according to their own will even a little in worship. While among the followers, the entire prayer of the woman is fabricated, how can it be correct?
Thirdly: Although there is no mursal hadith regarding women not performing raml, it is established through numerous reports. In Bayhaqi, it is narrated from Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), in Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah from Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with both), Hasan, and Ata. Ibn al-Mundhir has narrated a consensus that women do not perform raml, and consensus in religion is also a proof. The matter of prayer is different from raml; here everything is established through marfu’ ahadith, that is, the complete method of the prayer of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. Wherever the method of Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, is present, there is absolutely no room to adopt any other method or opinion. This means that where the Shariah is silent, if the Ummah reaches a consensus on something, it is a proof; but where the Shariah exists, there is no need for any opinion or consensus at all.
Some people deceive by saying that the method of women praying closely together is transmitted from the predecessors, and even marfu’ ahadith are found. Accordingly, some marfu’ narrations and some reports related to this are presented. This is not the place to mention and analyze all of them. Try to understand this matter from a couplet (the speech of the living Mustafa, peace be upon him – do not look at anyone’s words and actions).
Allah has commanded in the Quran at multiple places to follow only Him and His Messenger, meaning the religion is to be taken solely from Allah and His Messenger. The second point is that any argument mentioned regarding the difference in the method of prayer between women and men, whether a saying or a hadith, is neither proven nor authentic. When something is not established, using it as evidence is futile. In fact, the fatwa of Jamia Banuriya on this matter has been observed; according to them, there is not a single piece of evidence in the Sahih Sitta (the six most authentic hadith collections) that supports a difference in prayer between women and men. All six of these books have a chapter on prayer, and all the hadith scholars have recorded all the elevated narrations (the method of prayer of the Messenger of Allah) in them, which include all the details from the beginning to the end of the prayer, leaving no aspect of the prayer unmentioned. The other evidences used by the Hanafi scholars to argue that women’s prayer is different are all unreliable. To understand their reality, it would be beneficial to study the brief book by Hafiz Salahuddin Yusuf, may Allah have mercy on him, titled “Is the Method of Prayer for Women Different from Men?.” This book has been published by Darussalam and is available on Kitab-o-Sunnat.com.
May Allah Almighty grant people the ability to follow the truth and enable all men and women among the Muslims to worship according to the way of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. Ameen
