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Fatwa CenterConflict in family which follows a Madhhab
Question
My family is Hanafi therefore women are expected to pray differently to men. I read some Hadeeth in the Al-Bukhaari and it kind of clashes. When I pray how it says, there they get annoyed, what should I do?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.
First of all, the questioner should know that the Book of Allaah, the Sunnah of the Prophet 
and consensus of the Muslim scholars are the only source of Muslim's creed and worship. In other words, it is not necessary for a Muslim to follow a particular school of jurisprudence and keep strictly to this school. What proves this is what Allaah Says (which means): {And [mention] the Day He will call them and say, “What did you answer the messengers?”}[Quran 25:65].
The contexts of Quran and Sunnah should be understood as the early predecessors understood them to mean. For more information about how these schools originated and the ruling on following one of these Fiqh schools, you can refer to Fataawa: 82778 and 84248.
In Fatwa: 89617, it is mentioned how a woman performs her prayer and whether or not she performs it in the same way a man does. In this Fatwa, we stated that none of the scholars – as far as we know – made it obligatory on a woman to draw her legs and arms close to each other while she is in a prostrating or a sitting position during prayer. The most dominant view among Muslim scholars is that it is desirable for a woman to do as such, so, there is no need for your family to become angry, because performing your prayers in the way you mentioned does not invalidate your prayer nor is it forbidden. Some scholars are of the view that a woman performs prayers exactly as a man does. They stated some proofs that support their view. One of these proofs is what was asserted authoritatively in the narration of Al-Bukhari
that while Umm Ad-Dardaa' 
was praying, she was in a sitting position the same way as a man does in his prayer. Umm Ad-Dardaa' was known to be a well-versed woman in matter of jurisprudence. Another proof supporting this latter view is the following narration. The Prophet said: "Perform your prayer in the same way you see me doing it." This statement addresses both men and women and there is no proof that excludes women. So, refer to the Fatwa mentioned above.
As for your question concerning what you should do, we advise you to perform your prayer according to the way described in sound narrations from the Sunnah.
You should advise your family wisely and kindly. You should also clarify to them kindly that they do not have the right to force you to follow the Hanafi school and that the Hanafi school does not rule that you did something forbidden or that your prayer is invalid when you pray the same way as men do.
Allaah Knows best.
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