TEACHINGS OF ISLAM WOMEN IN THE MOSQUE

Although the Ahaadith tell us that Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) had authorized women to come to the Masjid and that they actually performed their Salah there, the ‘Ulama forbade them to do so. The fact that the opinion of our beloved Nabi Muhammad (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) is contested by His heirs (the ‘Ulama) is enough to upset a Mu'min. However, what is the truth? Is the verdict of the ‘Ulama on the issue of the presence of women in the Masjid really contrary to the teaching of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam)? Let us come to the facts.

First of all, it is important to know that any verdict issued by the ‘Ulama-e-Mujtahideen (Rahimahumullah) is not influenced or motivated by their passions or desires. On the contrary, their statements find their origin in the Kitabullah and the Sunnah of Nabi-e-Kareem (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) in full conformity with the spirit of Deen.

There is, to our knowledge, no hadith that obliges women to come to the Masjid for Salah. On the contrary, Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) preferred that they perform their Salah at home. Thus, His statement, "And your (respective) houses are better for you," manifests His desire not to see women leave their homes to come and perform Salah at the Masjid. Similarly, His saying, "And performing Salah in a secluded and dark place is better than performing it in the middle of a room," demonstrates that, for women, it is more meritorious to perform Salah in a corner of their homes than elsewhere. In light of these statements, it would be the height of ridicule to claim that it is Sunnah to encourage women to come to the Masjid for Salah, since Nabi-e-Kareem (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) himself did not do so at any time. On the contrary, He said, "And your homes are better for you." Therefore, encouraging women to perform Salah at the Masjid would be in direct conflict with His teaching and, therefore, anti-Sunnah. Do you really have to be a genius to understand this?

According to the Ahaadith, even during the time of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam), His preference for women to perform Salah at home took precedence over the permission granted to them to go to the Masjid. This permission was, moreover, conditional on the safety of women when they went out to the Masjid. It is an established fact that when one or more conditions are attached to a law, the law cannot subsist without them. For example, since safety is the sine qua non condition for permitting women to go to the Masjid, its absence will abrogate this permission. It was to ensure this same security that Nabi-e-Kareem (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) had allowed the Fajr Salah to be performed early and the Isha Salah late—thus, the women moved in the darkness, which at that time provided security for them. To further reduce the risks involved in these going out to the Masjid, women were not to adorn themselves in an attractive manner or wear perfume. All these details incontestably demonstrate that the permission granted to women to go to the Masjid was subordinate to their security.

Therefore, it is only natural that this permission be revoked in case of insecurity and that the prohibition of women going to the Masjid when risks are involved is entirely compatible with the teaching of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam). This is why Fuqaha such as the four Aimmah (Rahimahumullah), who possessed a very deep knowledge of the Deen, did not consider it contrary to the prevailing permission during the time of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) when they forbade women from going to the Masjid for Salah. These Aimmah (Rahimahumullah) understood the Deen—and the spirit of the Hadith in particular—far better than those hotheads who campaign at all costs to make women go to the Masjid. And yet, these individuals have only a superficial knowledge, and their efforts are not governed by any stipulation of the Shari'ah, as Nabi-e-Kareem (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) never encouraged women to come and perform Salah in the Masjid. Thus, the so-called “research” and “clairvoyance” of these pretentious people are null from the point of view of the Shari'ah, especially in the light of the enlightened research and understanding of scholars of Islam such as the four Aimmah (Rahimahumullah).

In issuing this verdict, the Aimmah (Rahimahumullah) based themselves on a decision taken unanimously by the Sahabah-e-Kiraam (Radiyallahu anhum). Indeed, referring to the necessity in His time for slave women to cover themselves completely—just as free women (previously, it was only the latter who were required to adopt this form of Hijaab)—Allaamah Qurtubi (Rahimahullah) writes in his famous Tafseer:

And this (the adoption of this dress even by slave women) is comparable to the decision of the Sahabah-e-Kiraam (Radiyallahu anhum) to prohibit women from entering the Masjid after the wafaat of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam), even though He said: "Do not prohibit women from entering the Masjid."

In his Hujjatullah Al-Baalighah, Allaamah Shah Waliyullah Dehlavi (Rahimahullah) also stated that the majority of the Sahabah-e-Kiraam (Radiyallahu anhum) had forbidden women from performing Salah in the Masjid. As has already been pointed out, the permission was linked to the security that existed during the lifetime of Nabi-e-Kareem (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam). After His death, the spectre of fitnah and insecurity appeared, and this permission was automatically revoked. This is what Hadhrat Aisha (Radiyallahu anha) was referring to when she said: "If Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) had seen the behaviour of the women, he would certainly have prohibited them from entering the Masjid just as the women of Bani Isra'il were prohibited from entering the Masjid." Thus, the Ijma (unanimity) of the Sahabah-e-Kiraam (Radiyallahu anhum) regarding the prohibition of women going to the Masjid corroborates perfectly with the Sunnah of Nabi-e-Kareem (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam)—that when there is fitnah and insecurity, women should not go to the Masjid.

According to Umdat-ul-Qari, Hadhrat Abdullah Bin Umar (Radiyallahu anhuma) used to throw stones at women to make them evacuate the Masjid on the day of Jum'ah. Note that it is this same Abdullah Bin Umar (Radiyallahu anhuma) who reports the hadith:

"When your wives ask you for permission to go to the Masjid at night, allow them." Tabrani and Musannaf Abdur Razzaaq have related a narration (with an authentic chain of narration) according to which Hadhrat Abdullah Bin Mas'ud (Radiyallahu anhuma) used to take the women out of the Masjid and say to them: "Go away. Go home—that is better for you."

Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaibah reported that Hadhrat 'Ali (Radiyallahu anhu) did not allow women to go out except on the two Eids, and in a letter to one of his governors, Abdul Hameed, Hadhrat Umar Bin Abdul Aziz (Radiyallahu anhu) wrote: "See to it that the women under your jurisdiction do not participate in Jama'ah or Janazah because they have no right to Juma'ah and Janazah."

One would have to be truly lamentably ignorant of the spiritual level and value of these eminent figures to dare to say that they issued a verdict contrary to the teaching of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam). However, if one is convinced that they understood the Deen—and the spirit of the Hadith in particular—far better than we do, there is no need to argue; the research and the verdict of these illustrious figures must always take precedence over our personal opinion, which is based only on inadequate and superficial knowledge.

In light of the above explanations, we can easily conclude that:

Encouraging women to come to the Masjid for Salah is anti-Sunnah, as it is contrary to the teaching of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam). Furthermore, opposing those who forbid it would be tantamount to opposing the Sunnah and the consensus of the Sahabah-e-Kiraam (Radiyallahu anhum).
Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) has always exhorted women to perform their Salah at home, in the most secluded place.
Prohibiting women from coming to the Masjid in times of fitnah and insecurity is indeed the Sunnah and the teaching of Nabi-e-Kareem (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam).
Moreover, due to this fitnah and insecurity, women do not have the right to go to the Masjid in the first place.
By performing their Salah at home, women acquire more sawaab than they would have by performing their Salah in the Masjid-e-Nabawi.

[English version of "Les enseignements de l'islâm La femme à la mosquée" – Al Haadi – Vol. 3 No. 1]