Question:

I recently asked a question about going to the masjid for Qiyam-Al-Layl and you replied that women should not go to the masjid.

I'm a bit confused because the Prophet (SAW) never prevented the women goin to the masjid and even encouraged them to go for the eid prayer.

After what you said i will probably not go for Qiyam-Al-Layl because i would be alone at night. However, I would like to go for jummah and tarawee.

I know some people say women should not go because of the fitna but why is it ok for women to go to drop the kids to school, go to the supermarkets, work etc. but when it come to the house of Allah they are not allowed.

We have the same spiritual needs as men, praying in jummat had more reward, although, i know it says its better for women to pray in the comfines of a room in their home. But if it wasn't allowd then the Prophet (SAW) would have forbade it and not encouraged.

Please explain because I find a lot of peace goin to the masjid now and again.

Answer:

If only we lived in a pure age as that of the Messenger of Allah (SAW). Yes, women were allowed to come to the Masjid but that was in a time they were acutely familiar with Islamic rulings, i.e. they would observe strict modesty in dress and behaviour, they would never wear perfumes etc. This sadly is not the case today. Furthermore, even in that pious age the Messenger of Allah said (SAW) in a hadith narrated in Sunnan Abu Daud amongst others, when asked by a Sahabiyyah that she wished to pray behind him, he (SAW) said: "I know you like to pray behind me, but your Salah in your house is better than your behind me, and your Salah in the chamber of your house is better than your Salah in the rest of the house and your Salah in the secluded place of the house is better than your Salah in your room." (AW Kama Qala)

Here he (peace be upon him) is encouraging this sahabiyyah to leave praying in not just one of the local Masjids we go to but the Prophet's mosque itself and to leave not just a Salah behind any Imam but the Imam of Imams (SAW). Thus, it is clear he (SAW) encouraged women to pray in their homes but at the same time did not forbid praying in the Masjid for them as indicated in the hadith you mention. However, with the passing of time women (and men) have less appreciation of the rules of the Shariah and the way to be in the Masjid. This sad state of affairs actually started after the death of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and Aisha r.a. states that the women in her age started to not maintain the decorum of the Masjid- litrally a few years after the death of the prophet (peace be upon him) and she said: "Were the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) to see what the women have started to do he would certainly have forbidden them the Masjid just as the women of the Bani Israel were forbidden." (Sahih Muslim)

She said this in a time when the Sahabah were still alive and knowledge of the Deen was still widely present amongst the people. Thus there can be no doubt that today 1400 years later when both men and women have become further from the Deen and its knowledge that women should not go to the Masjid. Having said this if you went to the Masjid with the intention to learn something about the Deen then that is allowed. In this case if there was a Dars or Tafseer to take place after the Taravih prayers etc. it would be permitted to go to the Masjid and pray. As for women going to supermarkets etc., one must remember that a supermarket and any other place is not like the Masjid and as such cannot be cited as an example. The reason is, to go to those places is for a worldly need from which there is no escape without causing harm to yourself. As for going to the Masjid it does not entail a need that cannot be fulfilled in another way easily (i.e. by praying at home).

Mufti Mohammed Sajjad

Wallahu Aalam bis-sawab

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The answer to this question is the opinion of the scholar and does not reflect the opinion of other scholars of As-Suffa Institute and As-Suffa Institute as an organisation.