Womens Salaah in the Light of Authentic Ahaadith

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Q: What is the procedure of ladies Salaah? Last month I did Umrah. In Saudi Arabia both men and women performed Salaah in the same
manner.
A: In this regard we hae prepared an article titled !Women"s Salaah in the Light of Authentic Ahaadith!. #elow is the details of the article:

Women"s Salaah in the Light of Authentic Ahaadith

A few differences in the Salaah of women
$er% aspect of the religion of Islam relating to women reoles around modest% and shame. It is in this regard that Islam commands women
to remain within the confines of their homes& being totall% concealed from the gazes of strange men and not to leae their homes without a
alid Shar"ee need. 'he manner in which a woman is commanded to perform her Salaah ( commencing from her attire for salaah to her
postures during Salaah ( all clearl% point towards the aspect of concealment. )ence& let alone the arious other ibaadaat of *een& the Salaah
of a woman alone illustrates the great degree of modest% and shame a woman is re+uired to displa%. )ence she is commanded to adopt the
er% same degree of modest% and shame in other departments of her *eeni and worldl% life which she displa%s in her Salaah.

'he four ,azhabs
-rom the era of .asulullah /Sallallahu Ala%hi Wasallam0& Sahaaba& 'abi"een and the centuries that followed& women were commanded to
perform Salaah in a manner that aried from the Salaah of men in certain aspects. 'he four mazhabs /iz. )anafi& ,aali1i& Shaafi"ee and
)ambali mazhab0 are all unanimous upon the fact that the Salaah of women differs from the Salaah of men in certain aspects. #elow are a
few glaring differences in the Salaah of women compared to the Salaah of men proen from authentic Ahaadith.

2oncealment
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Allamah #aiha+i /.ahimahullah0 mentioned that all the arious aspects in a woman"s Salaah that defer from a man"s Salaah /i.e. the manner
of fulfilling the arious postures of Salaah0 are all based on satr /concealment0. A female is commanded to carr% out eer% posture of her
Salaah in a manner that conceals her bod% shape and limbs the most.

*raw close together
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)azrat Abdullah bin Abbaas /.adi%allahu Anhuma0 was as1ed regarding how women should perform Salaah. )e replied: 3'he% should draw
themseles together as close as possible.4

Women"s raising their hands at the time of 'a1beer5e5'ahreemah
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)azrat Waail bin )u6ar /.adi%allahu Anhu0 reports that 7abi /Sallallahu Ala%hi Wasallam0 once said to me: 38 Waail bin )u6ar9 When %ou
begin %our Salaah& raise %our hands to %our ears and a woman must raise her hands to her chest /i.e. in line with her shoulders0.4
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Imaam :uhri /.ahimahullah0 mentioned that a woman should raise her hands in line with her shoulders.
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)azrat Ataa" /.ahimahullah0 /the student of )azrat Ibnu Abbaas .adi%allahu Anhuma0 was as1ed: 3)ow should women raise their hands in
Salaah?4 )e replied: 3Up to their chests /i.e. in line with the shoulders0.4
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)azrat Ibnu ;urai6 /.ahimahullah0 sa%s: 3I as1ed Ataa" /.ahimahullah0 /the student of )azrat Ibnu Abbaas .adi%allahu Anhuma0: <Should a
woman raise her hands when ma1ing ta1beer in the same manner that a man raises his hands?" )azrat Ataa" /.ahimahullah0 replied: <7o&
the% must not raise them in the manner of men." When demonstrating it& he drew his hands e=tremel% close to himself and 6oined them well.
)e said: <'he method of a woman"s Salaah is not a1in to a man"s."4

Women"s ru1u"
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Ataa" /.ahimahullah0 sa%s: 3A woman"s bod% should remain drawn together when she bows down for performing ru1u". She should bring
her arms to her stomach and pull herself together as much as possible. When she performs sa6dah& she should bring up her arms close to her
bod% and press her bosom and stomach against her thighs. )er bod% should remain drawn together as much as possible.4

Women"s sa6dah
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)azrat >azid bin Abi )abib /.adi%allahu Anhu0 reports that 7abi /Sallallahu Ala%hi Wasallam0 passed b% two women who were performing
Salaah. /After the% had completed their Salaah0 he said to them: 3When %ou perform sa6dah& then allow %our bod% to remain close to the
ground. 2ertainl% the Salaah of a woman is different from the Salaah of a man.4
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It is reported from )azrat Ali /.adi%allahu Anhu0 that when a woman performs sa6dah& she should draw herself together close to the ground
and 6oin her thighs together.

Women"s +a"dah
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)azrat Ibnu Umar /.adi%allahu Anhuma0 was once as1ed& 3)ow would the women in the era of .asulullah /Sallallahu Ala%hi Wasallam0
perform their Salaah?4 )e replied& 3Initiall% the% would sit cross5legged& thereafter the% were commanded to draw themseles as close as
possible.4
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Ibrahim An57a1a"ee /.ahimahullah0 reports that women are commanded to 6oin their thighs and lean to one side while performing Salaah.
Apart from the aboe mentioned authentic Ahaadith& there are man% other Ahaadith in the boo1s of )adith. -or further details regarding the
complete method of women"s Salaah& refer to http:??ih%aauddeen.co.za??p@ABCD

Answered b%:
,ufti :a1aria ,a1ada
2hec1ed E Approed:
,ufti $brahim Sale6ee /Isipingo #each0