Women’s Islamic Prayer and Worship – Salah/Namaz/Prayer and Ibadah

𝑸: 𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕, 𝒔𝒂𝒅𝒍𝒚, 𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑸𝒖𝒓’𝒂𝒏 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒃𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒔; 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑 𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒉. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆!
𝑰𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆?

Q: What is the ruling on putting the Qur’aan on the clean ground or on the prayer mat?

“It is better to put it in a high place so that it will be exalted in both the literal and metaphorical sense. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “Exalted (in dignity), purified” [‘Abasa 80:14]. If you need to put it down, then put it down in a place that is raised up, even if only a little. If that is not possible then it is permissible to put it on the ground, on a clean carpet and the like. The Qur’aan should not be put down in a low place or a place that is impure or on the dirt, because that is showing disrespect towards it. But if a person needs to put it down on a clean carpet, there is nothing wrong with that, so long as one is keen to exalt it both literally and metaphorically”.
Fataawa Islamiyyah (4/15).

𝑸: 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒖𝒈𝒔? 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕; 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒔, 𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒂𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒄, 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒔 & 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒔 𝒆𝒕𝒄. 𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆?

The person who is praying should not have in front of him or on his prayer mat any kind of images, lest he be distracted by them.

Al-Bukhaari (373) and Muslim (556) narrated from ‘Aa’ishah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) prayed in a black cloak that had markings, and he looked at its markings. When he finished praying, he said: “Take this cloak to Abu Jahm ibn Hudhayfah, and bring me his plain garment, for they distracted me just now when I was praying.”. Hishaam ibn ‘Urwah narrated from his father, from ‘Aa’ishah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “I was looking at its markings whilst I was praying and I was afraid that they would distract me.”

From the above hadith it can be concluded that it is not recommended to pray on these decorated mats or rugs because that may distract the worshipper.

𝑸: 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈? (𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑺𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒉/𝑵𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒛)

It was reported from Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The angels do not enter a house in which there are statues or pictures.” (Narrated by Imaam Ahmad; see also Saheeh al-Jaami’, 1961).

𝑸: 𝑪𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒃𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒏?

It is not permissible to wear clothes on which there are images of animals or people, because of the report narrated by al-Bukhaari (3226) and Muslim (2106) from Abu Talhah (may Allaah be pleased with him), according to which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The angels do not enter any house in which there is an image.”

See: Mataalib Ooli al-Nuha (1/353)

𝑺𝒖𝒃𝒉𝒂𝒂𝒏’𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒉 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒉 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒆, 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍. 𝑨𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒏

𝑸: 𝑰𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝒘𝒆 (𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏) 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒋𝒊𝒅 (𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒆)?! 𝑴𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑨𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒃𝒊𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒋𝒊𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚.

It was narrated from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “A woman’s prayer in her room is better than her prayer in her courtyard, and her prayer in her cabinet is better than her prayer in her room.” (Narrated by Abu Dawood, 570; al-Tirmidhi, 1173. This hadeeth was classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Targheeb wa’l-Tarheeb, 1/136).

𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒉, 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒉. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒉𝒖 𝒂’𝒍𝒂𝒎

𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒉𝒂𝒂𝒏’𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒉

It was narrated that ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) said: “If the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had lived to see how women have started to behave, he would have prevented them [from going to the mosque] as the women of the Children of Israel were prevented.” I said, to ‘Umrah, “Were they prevented?” He said, “Yes.”
(al-Bukhaari, 831; Muslim, 445)

𝑸: 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒎 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈? 𝑾𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝑺𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒉 (𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓) 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝑰 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅?

It was narrated in a saheeh report from ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Allaah does not accept the prayer of a woman of child-bearing age unless (she covers herself) with a khimaar.” (Narrated by Abu Dawood, al-Salaah, 546; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Sunan Abi Dawood, 596)

𝑸: 𝑫𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒂 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒎 𝑾𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏’𝒔 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 (𝒊𝒏 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍) 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒕? 𝑫𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔, 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒏𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒔. 𝑰𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆? 𝑨𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒚, 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒓𝒕 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒎? 𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆𝒏?

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

“It is permissible for a woman to let her garment down below the ankles. In fact this is what is prescribed for women, so that they may cover their feet. Covering the feet is something that is prescribed for women and is in fact obligatory for them according to many scholars. What a woman should do is cover her feet, either with her garment which is long and covers them or by wearing socks or shoes and the like”.

Fataawa al-Mar’ah al-Muslimah, 1/437

𝑸: 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒔? 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈? 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔?

The scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed concerning the ruling on whether a woman has to cover her feet whilst praying. The majority of scholars are of the view that it is obligatory for a woman to cover her feet whilst praying.

The majority quoted as evidence for the view that it is obligatory to cover them the report narrated by Abu Dawood (640) from Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her), that she asked the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): Can a woman pray wearing a chemise and headcover and no izaar (waist-wrapper)? He said: “If the chemise is long enough to cover the tops of her feet (then that is fine).”

Scholars differed as to whether the hands should be covered or not. Regarding the feet, the unanimous view was that they should be covered. When it came to the face, there is nothing wrong in uncovering it according to the consensus of scholars. As it happens, uncovering it in Salah is Sunnah unless there is/are non mehram present.

The final view is that a woman must cover all her body when offering Salah, except the face and hands and that it is not obligatory for her to cover her hands, but if she does cover them it is better so as to avoid any confusion with regard to the scholars who consider covering of the hands to be obligatory.

With regards to the feet, it is obligatory to cover them according to the scholars because all the woman’s body is Awrah and the feet are considered Awrah. Therefore, there is no reason to uncover them and they should be covered whether by wearing socks or long garments while offering Salah.

[Abridged version: AbdurRahman.org]

𝑸: 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅?!

Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

“With regard to her making up past prayers, that is because she failed to meet one of the conditions of prayer. If she offered several prayers in which she did not cover her feet, then she must make them up. But if she was unaware of the shar‘i ruling, then perhaps Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, will forgive her for what is past and she does not have to make them up”.

𝑨𝒍𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒂𝒉, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒉 (𝑨𝒓 𝑹𝒂𝒉𝒎𝒂𝒏), 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒆 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒋𝒂𝒉𝒊𝒍 (𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆) 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝑯𝒊𝒎 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆. 𝑨𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒏

𝑶𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅, 𝒘𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒂 𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒉.

𝑴𝒂𝒚 𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒉 𝑺𝒖𝒃𝒉𝒂𝒂𝒏𝒂 𝒘𝒂 𝒕’𝒂𝒍𝒂 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝑯𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔. 𝑨𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒏