Women in Prayer Aligning Themselves the Same as Men Fatwa No: 82747
- Fatwa Date:11-4-2001
My question is when women pray together should they put their shoulders and feet besides each others as men do because the Hadith directed to men didn't mention women? What is the right position?
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.
There is no difference between men and women as far as aligning the rows in the Prayer. In fact, both men and women are ordered to align their rows in Prayer. The fact that the Hadeeth addresses males only is not an evidence as it is common in Quran and in Arabic language to address both males and females with male pronouns. For example, Allah Says (what means): {O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger.} [Quran 4:59] No doubt that the order here is for both men and women. So, the rows of women in Prayer should be well aligned, their feet should be next to one another, and their shoulders should touch one another.
Allah knows best.