I

nthenameofAl
l
ah,
MostCompassi
onat
e,MostMer
cif
ul,

General
ly
,themajorFatawabooksoft heIndi
anSubcontinentHanafij
uri
sts(f
uqaha)
di
scourage(qui
tevehementlyattimes)womenfrom att
endingandpr ayi
ngatMosques.They
basethei
runderst
andingonthef actt
hattheMessengerofAl l
ah(All
ahblesshim &gi
vehi
m
peace)i
nmanyHadi thsencouragedwoment ooffert
heirprayersathome,forexampl
e:

Say y
idaUmm Sal
ama( Al
lahbepleasedwit
hher)nar
rat
esthatt
heMessengerofAll
ah(All
ah
blesshim &gi
vehi
m peace)sai
d:“ThebestMosqueforawomanist
heinnerpartofherhome.
”
(MusnadAhmad&Tabr ani)

Sayyi
dunaAbdAl l
ahibnUmar( All
ahbepl easedwithhim)narrat
est
hattheMessengerofAll
ah
(Al
l
ahblesshim &givehim peace)said:
“Donotpr eventyourwomenfol
kfrom at
tendi
ngthe
Mosque,eventhoughthei
rhousesar ebetterfort
hem. ”(
SunanAbuDawud)

Sayy
idaUmm Sal ama( Al
lahbepl easedwithher)narr
atesthattheMessengerofAllah(
All
ah
bl
esshim &givehi m peace)said:“Awoman’ sprayerinherinnerroom i
sbett
ert
hanherprayer
i
ntheoutsideroom, andherpr ayerintheoutsi
der oom i
sbet t
erthanherpray
erinthecour
tyar
d,
andherprayeri
nt hecour t
yardisbet t
erthanherprayeri
ntheMosque. ”(Mu’j
am ofImam
Tabr
ani)

I
ndeed,womeni nt heti
meoft heMessengerofAllah(All
ahblesshim &givehi
m peace)di
d
at
tendcongregationalpray
er sint
heMosque, andt heywerenotprevent
edfrom doi
ngso.The
MessengerofAllah(Allahblesshim &giv
ehim peace)himselfadvisedagai
nstprev
enti
ng
womenf r
om attendingcongr egat
ional
prayer
s,forexample:

Sayyi
dunaAbdAllahi
bnUmar( All
ahbepl easedwithhim)narr
atesthatt
heMessengerofAl
lah
(Al
l
ahblesshim &giv
ehim peace)said:“
Ifyourwivesseekpermissi
onfrom y
outogotothe
Mosqueatnight
,lett
hem.
”( Sahi
hal-Bukhari
,no:827)

And:

Sal
i
m nar
rat
esf
rom hi
sfat
hert
hatt
heMessengerofAl
l
ah(
All
ahbl
esshi
m &gi
vehi
m peace)
sai
d:“
Ift
hewi
feofanyoneofyouseeksper
missi
ont
ogot
otheMosque,
hemaynotpr
event
her
.”(
Sahi
hMusl
im,no:442)

Howev er
,theunderstandingoft hev ari
ousclassi
calandcont emporaryHanaf i
Fuqahai sthat
womeni nthetimeoft heMessengerofAl l
ah(All
ahblesshi m &givehim peace)hadt heunique
opport
unityofpray
ingbehi ndtheMessengerofAl lah(Al
lahbl esshi
m &gi vehim peace)himself
-anactthatcannotbepar all
eledtoday.Secondly
,theyusedt oobservealltherequirementsof
Shari
ahincludi
ngthoseofpr opercov eri
ng(hij
ab),
hencet heywer enotprohibi
tedfrom
att
endingthecongregational pray
ers.Despitethi
s,theMessengerofAl l
ah( All
ahblesshim&
giv
ehim peace)sti
lladvisedandencour agedthem toprayint hei
rhomes.

Say yi
dunaUmari bnal-
Khattab(All
ahbepl easedwi thhim)inhistimef eltt
hattheconcession
givent owomenf orat
tendi
ngt hecongr egationalpr ayersintheMosquei ssomet i
mesbei ng
mi susedandcoul dbemi susedev enmor ei nthef uture.Hef el
tthatwomenwer enolonger
takingcar eoftheShari
ahr equir
ement sast heyusedt oi ntheti
meoft heMessengerofAl l
ah
(Allahblesshim &givehim peace),andhewasal soawar eofthef actthattheMessengerof
Allah( Al
lahblesshim &givehim peace)adv isedwoment ooff
ertheirprayersathome.Hence,
keepingal loftheaboveinmi nd,heissuedav erdictthatwomenshoul dnolongeratt
end
congr egati
onal pr
ayer
sintheMasj i
d,andt hisdeci si
onofhi swascol lecti
velyaccept
edbyt he
otherCompani ons.(
See:Ay ni
,Umdatal -Qari,3/228)

Simil
arl
y,Say
yidunaAbdAl lahibnMas’ud(All
ahbepleasedwit
hhim)usedtor
efusewomen
entr
ytotheMosquef orFridayprayersandwouldsay:“Go,y
ourhomesarebet
terf
oryou.
”
(Recor
dedbyI mam Tabrani.See:al
-Targhi
bwaal-Tar
hib,1/
190)

Say
yidaA’
i
sha(
All
ahbepl
easedwi
thher
)sai
d:

“Ift
heMessengerofAll
ah(
All
ahbl
esshim &gi vehi
m peace)wasal ivet
oseewhatwomenar e
doingnow(i
nA’isha’
sti
me),
hewouldsurelyhavepreventedthem fr
om att
endi
ngthepr
ayer
sin
theMosquejustasthewomenofBanuIsra’
ilwereprevented.
”(Sahi
hal-
Bukhar
iandSahi
h
Muslim)

Ther
enownedHadit
hschol
arandHanaf
ijur
ist,
Imam Badral
-Di
nal-Ay
ni(Al
l
ahhav
emer
cyon
hi
m)stat
eswhi
lstcommentat
ingont
heabov estat
ementofSayyi
daA’i
sha:
“HadA’isha(Al
lahbepleasedwi t
hher)wit
nessedwhatwomenar einvol
vedinthevari
oust y
pes
ofinnovati
onsandwr ongdoingsthesedays,
shewoul dhav
ebeenev enmoreextremeinher
preventi
ngwomenf rom enteri
ngtheMosques……Al sothefactt
hattherehadnotbeenal ong
ti
mebet weenherstatementandt hedemiseoftheMessengerofAl lah(
All
ahblesshi
m &gi ve
him peace),
andalsothefactthatwomeni nherti
mewer enotinvolvedi
nevenonepor t
ionofa
thousandofwhatwomenar eupt othesedays.
”(Umdatal-
Qar i
,3/230)

Basedontheabove,t
hevar
iousclassi
cal
HanafiFuqaha(andalsothemaj or
it
yofthe
contempor
aryHanafi
UlamaoftheSubconti
nent
)statethati
tisdisl
iked(makruh)f
orwomen,
whethermarr
iedorsi
ngl
e,t
ogot otheMosqueforcongregat
ionalprayer
s.

I
mam al
-Kasani
(Al
l
ahhav
emer
cyonhi
m)st
ates:

“
Itwillnotbeper mitt
edforyoungwoment ogototheMosqueforcongregat
ional
prayersduet
o
t
hef actthatSayyidunaUmar( Al
l
ahbepleasedwit
hhim)preventedwomenf r
om doingso.
Moreov er
, women’sgoingtotheMasji
disacauseofmischief(
betweenmenandwomen)and
mischief(fi
tna)i
sHar am,andthatwhi
chleadst
osomethingHaram wil
lalsobeunlawful
.”
(
Bada’i al
-Sana’i
,1/157)

Anot
hercl
assi
cal
Hanaf
ijur
ist
,Imam al
-Haskaf
i(Al
l
ahhav
emer
cyonhi
m)st
ates:

“I
tisdisl
i
kedforwoment oattendcongregati
onalpr
ayersi
ntheMosqueev enf
ortheEi
dand
Jumu’aprayer
s,andevenforoldwomenat t
endi
ngnightpr
ayer
s,accor
dingtothemorerel
i
able
posit
ionint
heHanafiSchool,
duet othecorrupt
ionofthet
ime.
”(Raddal-
Muhtaral
aal-
Durr,
1/566)

I
tisst
atedi
nal
-Fat
awaal
-Hi
ndi
yya:

“
TheFatwat
hesedaysisthati
tisdi
sli
kedforwoment ogot
otheMosquef
oral
lpr
ayer
s,duet
o
wi
despr
eadcor
rupt
ion.
”(al-
Fat
awaal-Hindi
yya,
1/56)
Basedonalloft heabov eevidences, andbasedonwhatt heclassi
calHanafiFuqahahave
stat
edintheirrespectiv
ewor ks,themaj ori
tyofthecontemporaryHanafiFuqahaofthe
Subconti
nentconsi derwomenat tendingthecongr egati
onalpr
ayersintheMosquet obe
di
sli
kedifnotdi sal
lowed.Theirstancei snotbasedonanycul tur
alval
uesorcustoms( assome
peoplewrongfullybeli
eve)
;rather,theyar emerelyreinf
orci
ngwhatt he‘
classi
cal’
Hanafij
uri
sts
havestat
ed.Thus, topointfi
ngersatt hem sayingtheyarecult
ural
lyori
entedisi
ndeeddoing
i
njusti
cetothem.

Hav
ingsai
dal
loft
heabov
e,t
hef
oll
owi
ngi
swor
thconsi
der
ing:

Inmyhumbl eview( andwhoam It ohaveav i

ewpoi nt,hencewhatIi ntendt oment i
onismer ely
thr
ought heblessingsofmyt eachers)
, t
hemai nr easoni ngbehi ndt hecl assicalFuqaha’ sdisl
ike
ofwomengoi ngt otheMosquesf orcongregational pray ersi st
hef earofwhatt heyt er
m as
“Fi
tna”.Theterm Fitnameans: mischief,harm,cor r
upt i
onandgener al
lyt henon- observanceof
theShariahruli
ngs.Al mostal loftheclassicalj
uristsst at ethatduet owi despr eadmi schiefand
corrupti
on,womennol ongershoul dbegoi ngforcongr egat ional prayers.TheMessengerof
All
ah( Al
lahblesshim &gi v ehim peace)himsel fnev erf orbadewomenf rom attendingt he
Mosques; rat
her ,
hesai dthatwomenshoul dnotbepr ev entedf rom ent eringtheMosques.
Hence, t
hejuri
sts( f
uqaha)hav ebasedt heirrul
ingont heposi ti
onofSay y i
dunaUmarand
Sayy i
daA’i
sha( All
ahbepl easedwi ththem both),andt heirposi tionwasbasedont hef earof
mischiefandhar m.

Theysawt hatcor ruptionwasr ifeandwi despreadi ntheirtime;hence,womenmaybehar med

byimmor alandcor r
uptpeopl eiftheyemer gedoutoft heirhomes.Theyf earedt hatifwomen
areencouragedt ogot ot heMosques, itcouldopent hedoorf orunlawfulinterminglingoft he
twosexes.Themai nreason, howev er,wast hef earofwomenbei ngharmed, aspoi ntedoutby
Imam IbnAbi din(All
ahhav emer cyonhi m)inhi srenownedRaddal -Muhtarandot herclassical
Fuqaha.Thisi sthev eryreasonwhysomecl assicalFuqahaper mi t
tedoldwoment oat tendthe
FajrandEishapr ayers, f
ort heimmor al andwi ckedpeopl ear easleepatthatt ime.Someev en
all
owedt hem togof orMaghr ibprayers,fortheimmor alpeoplear enormal l
ybusyeat ingatthat
ti
me.I mam IbnAbi dint henst atesthatifthereisaf earoft hewi ckedpeopl eloit
eringar oundin
theseprayerstimes, theni twillbedisl
ikedf orwoment ogof ortheseprayer salso.(Raddal -
Muht ar
,1/566)

Oneshoul
dal
way
skeepi
nmi
ndt
hecont
exti
nwhi
cht
heFuqahawer
egi
vi
ngsuchv
erdi
cts.Li
fe
wasv erypl
ainandsimple.WomeninMusli
m countr
iesandIsl
amicsocieti
eswouldnormall
y
notemer geoutoft
heirhomesunl
essabsolut
elynecessary
.Theneedtoemer geoutofthe
housewasnotl i
ketheneedwehavei nt
oday’
scompl i
catedworl
d.Hence,Musli
m women
wouldr emai
nwithi
ntheconfi
nesofthei
rhomes,andemer geout
sideonlyincer
tai
n
unavoidabl
esit
uati
ons.

Keepingt hi
scontexti
nmi nd,onecaneasil
yunder
standwhyt heclassicalFuqahagavesuch
verdi
cts.Byallowi
ngwoment ofrequentt
heMosques,theywouldbegi v
ingwomenper mission
toemer geoutoftheirhomes–womenwhowoul dhaveotherwisenotemer gedoutsi
de.Thus,
theyfearedthatMuslim womennor mall
ydonotcomeoutoft heirhomes, andinall
owing(and
encouraging)them t
ogot otheMosque, t
herei
sapossibil
it
ythatev i
landwi ckedpeoplemay
j
umpatt hechanceofhar mingthem.

Ifwewer et oappl ythiscontexttothemoder nera–wher ewomenar eal l

overthemarketareas,
shoppingmal ls,shoppi ngcentres,st
reetsandroads–i tseemsunfairtocompletel
yshunthem
from enteri
ngt heMosques.Asoneschol arofpiet
yandknowl edgeoncesai d:
“Wedon’tmind
womenf requentingt hemostdi sli
kedofplacesinthesightofAl
lah(abghadal-Bi
l
ad)whichare
thebazaar s(aswaq) , butwehav eamaj orprobl
em withwomencomi ngtothemostbelovedof
places(ahabal -Bil
ad)i nthesightofAll
ah,whicharetheMosques!

Therefore,whenwomenar eal l
owedtogot otheBazaar s,mar kets,
shoppingmal l
sandot her
suchpl aces( andj
usti
fiabl
yinmanycases) ,t
heni tdoesnotseem r ighttocompletel
yshun
them from comi ngtotheMosques.Themai nwisdom behi ndt heposit
ionoftheclassicalj
uri
sts
wast hef earofharm andcor rupti
on,
andi nthemoder nt i
meswomen( Musl i
m,non-Musl i
m,
practi
singandnon- practi
sing)areallovertheplace,hencei fevil
andwi ckedpeoplewoul dwant
tocauseanyhar mtot hem, theywouldsurelylookoutf ort
hem atot herplacesrat
hert hanthe
Mosques.Al so,womengener al
lywouldbesaf einourtimesf r
om beingharmedwhi lstgoingto
theMosques.

Secondly
,att
imest heremaybeagenui neneedforwoment ogototheMosques,suchaswhen
tr
avell
i
ngandthepr ayerti
mei saboutt ocometoanend.Therehavebeenmanycaseswher ea
si
sterhadtomissherpr ayer
,fortherewerenofacil
i
tiesf
orwoment oprayintheMosque.At
ti
mes,womenmayneedt ogot otheMosquet olear
nsacredknowledge,at
tendaspir
it
ual
gather
ingandothersuchmat ter
s, henceshemayneedt opr
ayherSalatintheMosque.
Keepi
ngtheabovei
nmi nd,andgiventheti
meswear el
i
vingin,
Ibeli
evethatbot
hofthe
fol
l
owingtwoext
remistapproachesshoul
dbeav oi
dedwithr
egardstowomengoi ngt
o
Mosques,andweshouldadoptthemiddleway,
as“ t
hebestofwaysisthemiddl
eway ”
:

Somepeopl earequi t
eext remeintheirsupportandencour agementf orwomenat tending
congregati
onalpray erst othepointt
hatt heyconsiderwomenwhowi shtoprayathomet obe
depri
vedoft heblessi ngsandbenef i
tsofpr ayi
ngi ntheMosque.Att i
mes, menandwomenar e
seenpr ay
ingintheMosquei nsuchani nfor
mal andcasual mannerthattherulesofShar iahare
overl
ooked.Ther ulesofHi j
abarev i
olatedandmenandwomenar equi t
ewill
ingt ointermingl
e
fr
eelyandopenlyi nt heMosque.Theyt hi
nkthatacti
onsar eaccordi
ngt othei
ri nt
entions;hence,
evenifthemeanst akenar eunsound, itseemsnotmat tert
othem.InsomeMosques, ont he
occasionofEidandot hercel
ebrati
ons, womenandmendr essli
ketheyar eattendingsomesor t
ofafashionshow, wi tht hewomendr essedupi nal lthei
rmakeupandpower ful f
ragrance.

Thiswasact ual
l
ywhatSay yidunaUmarandSay yi
daA’isha(Al
lahbepleasedwit
hthem both)
weret hi
nki
ngofwhent heypr eventedwomenf r
om goingtotheMosques.Oneshoul dal
way s
remembert hat“
endsdon’tjustifythemeans”hencei
tisv i
talt
hatinor
dert odoanactofgood,
onemustt akemeanst hataresoundal so.Openandcasual i
nter
mingl
ingofthesexesis
prohibit
edi
nShar i
ah;
hence, itwill
notbepermitt
edforwoment ogototheMosquei nsucha
context.

Ont heot herhand,weseethatsomepeopl ear

equiteextr
emei npreventi
ngwomenf rom
attendingtheMosquest hattheydon’tevenhaveadesignatedplaceforwoment opray.I
fa
sisterwast ravel
li
ngandwasoutoft hehouseduetoaneed, andthetimef orprayercamein,
whatwoul dshedo?I nmanycases,womenar efor
cedintoknockingonpeopl e’sdoorstoal
low
them t opray.Ift
heyareunsuccessful,
theyhavenochoicebuttomi ssthei
rpr ayer
s.Thisi
s
anot herform ofextr
emism whichIbeli
eveshouldbeavoided.

Themi ddlewayi sthatwomenshoul dbeencour agedt oof f

ertheirregularprayersathome, and
notcomet otheMosquehabi t
uallywithouthavi
nganeedt odoso.Att hesamet ime, ev ery
Masjidshouldhav efacili
ti
esforawoman’ sprayerarea,sot hatifasisteristravell
ingshei sabl
e
tomakeWuduandof ferherprayerswithouthavingtomi ssherpr ayersaltogether.I nthecase
ofwomencomi ngtotheMosque, ext
remecar eandpr ecaut i
onshoul dbet akenofobser v
ing
therulesofHijab,sothatthereisnof earofanyFi t
na.Bot hbrothersandsi stersshoul dhav e
separateentr
ances, andopeni nt
er mi
ngl i
ngofthet wogender smustbeav oided.Si stersshould
alsobewar ythatgoingt otheMosqueshoul dnotleadt othenon- ful
fil
mentoft heirot her
househol
ddut
ies.

Ibel
i
ev ethisisthebalancedappr oacht hatmaybeadopt edint hewestgiventhetimeswel i
ve
i
n.Ulti
mat ely
,themainobj ecti
v eoftheslav e,
maleorfemale,istoseekthepleasureofAllah
MostHi ghandnotsat isf
yone’ sowndesi reandwish.Hence,oneshouldbecont entwiththe
commandofAl l
ahMostHi ghandHi sbel ovedMessenger(All
ahblesshim &givehim peace)
whetheritsuitsoneorotherwi se.Ther
ef ore,Musl
i
m womenshoul dunderstandthatprayi
ngat
homei sjustasequalinthesi ghtofAllaht omenpr ayi
ngintheMosque.MayAl l
ahAl mighty
gi
veusal lthetrueunderstandingofDeen, Ameen

AndAl
l
ahknowsbest