Women going to the Masjid

Q. Since a certain Masjid has been opened to female members, there has been an improvement in the wearing of the Hijaab by both women and girls. In this specific case, what is the "fitnah" that would prohibit women from going to the Masjid?

A. While he was still an unbeliever, Hazrat Umar (Radiyallahu anhu) had violently hit his sister and brother-in-law because they had embraced Islam. Even though it was after this fight that Hazrat Umar (Radiyallahu anhu) converted to Islam and later became the second Caliph, can his behaviour towards his sister and brother-in-law be considered "correct"? What if everyone were to engage in this means in order to become a true and sincere Muslim? Obviously, such reasoning is pure madness and can only emanate from a mentally unbalanced person. In general, the goal does not justify the means - a positive result does not imply that all the means used to achieve this end are permissible. If it happens that an illegitimate child contributes greatly to the propagation of Islam, it is still illegitimate - the act that resulted in his birth (i.e. the means) will remain a sin, therefore punishable.

Since one can only judge the means according to their outcome, one must necessarily resort to the Shariah, i.e. the Kitaabullah and the Sunnah of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam). The latter said: "Never has a woman performed a better Salah than that performed in her house." Was it not the wish of our beloved Prophet (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) that women should perform their Salah in their homes, rather than in the Masjid? As for the hadeeth "Do not prevent women from going to the Masjid if they ask your permission" and other similar ahaadeeth, they were known by eminent Sahabah (Radiyallahu anhum) such as Hazrat Umar (Radiyallahu anhu), Hazrat Abdullah bin Umar (Radiyallahu anhu) and Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas'ud (Radiyallahu anhu) as well as the Aimmah (Rahimahumullah) who understood the spirit of the Deen much better than we did. Why then did they all forbid women from going to the Masjid? This is because they also knew that the context in which the permission was given no longer existed – thus, the permission was automatically revoked. Allaamah Qurtubi (Rahimahullah) (6th century) and Allaamah Shah Waliyullah Dehlavi (Rahimahullah) wrote that at the time of Hazrat Umar (Radiyallahu anhu), there was Ijmah (consensus - unanimity of the Sahabah) to prevent women from going to the Masjid. It does not matter if we do not see any fitnah - it is only an excuse as we do not even know what fitnah really is. However, let us sound the alarm so that everyone is warned: if our children cross the road many times without any incident, we cannot consider them to be safe from all danger. Misfortune does not knock on the door before entering and when it arrives, it is already too late to remedy it.

[English version of "La présence féminine au Masjid" – Al Haadi – Vol. 3 No. 1]