Part 21

Imam Ahmad and Abii Dawid relate that the Prophet (PBUH) said:

“The imam is appointed to be followed; so when he bows, you should also bow, and do not bow until he bows. Also, when he prostrates, you should also prostrate and do not prostrate until he prostrates.”

The Companions of the Prophet (PBUH) used not to bow their backs to prostrate until the Prophet (PBUH) prostrated, then they would do the same’. When ‘Umar Ibnul-Khattaéb (may Allah be pleased with him) saw a man preceding the imam in prayer, he beat him saying:

“You neither performed the prayer alone nor did you follow your imam.”

Some people do not give due attention to this matter; they precede the imdm (in prayer), thus they join those warned with the severe (Divine) punishment. Besides, this might cause the invalidity of their prayer. Imam Muslim relates that the Prophet (PBUH) said:

“Do not precede me in bowing and prostration and ending of

“Scholars unanimously agree that it is prohibited to precede the imam (in prayer). In addition, it is not permissible for the worshipper to bow before his imam or to raise one’s head (after bowing) before he raises his head, or to prostrate before he prostrates, There are many well-known hadiths in which the Prophet (PBUH) forbade doing such an act"

Preceding the imam in prayer is a kind of deception done by Satan to the ones performing payer, so that they might perform it improperly. What would the person who precedes the imam get?! He will not end his prayer until the imam pronounces taslim (the final Salams in prayer). Therefore, Muslims should pay attention to this and should adhere to the rulings on following the imam.

We invoke Allah to make all of us comprehend our religion and to have insight into its rulings, for He is the Hearing and the Responsive. This is because if Allah wants to do good to somebody, He bestows on him the gift of understanding the religion (i.e. Islam).

1 There are a lot of hadiths concerning this topic as related by Aba Dawa (564) [1/571] and An-Nasaii (854) [1/446].

6 The Lawgiver of Shari'ah (Islamic Law) is Allah, Exalted be He; the term can also refer to the Prophet (PBUH) as he never ordained but what was revealed to him by Allah.

9 Ahmad (7144) [2/229], Aba Dawtd (603) [1/286] in the same wording but Al-Bukhari (688) and Muslim (412) related it in a different wording.

Our religion is a perfect one that comprehensively covers our welfare and interests in this world and in the Hereafter. Islam came with good to all Muslims, whether male or female as Allah, Exalted be He, says:

“Whoever does righteousness, whether male or female, while he is a believer - We will surely cause him to live a good life, and We will surely give them their reward [in the Hereafter] according to the best of what they used to do.” (Qur'an: An-Nahl: 97)

Islam takes an interest in women, conferring honor and respect upon them as long as they abide by its rulings and adorn themselves with its virtues. One of the things by which Islam honors woman is allowing her to attend the mosques to witness the congregational prayers and the assemblies for remembering Allah in order to win reward. However, at the same time the woman must do this with due decency and precautions that keep her away from any satanic seduction and preserve her dignity as well.

It is detestable to prevent women from going to the mosque if they ask permission. The Prophet (PBUH) said:

“Do not prevent the female servants of Allah (women) from (going to) the mosques of Allah, but they should go while they are not perfumed.”

This is because performing the prescribed prayers in congregation has a great reward for both men and women; moreover, walking to the mosque has a great reward,

It is authenticated in the Two Sahihs’ and other books of Hadith that the Prophet (PBUH) said:

“If your women ask permission to go to the mosque at night, allow them.”

The wisdom behind asking their husbands’ permission is that it is among the rights of men upon their women (wives) to stay at home. Thus, going to the mosque, in this case, is only permissible, and they are not to abandon what is obligatory for the sake of what is permissible. When the husband gives permission to his wife to go to the mosque, he then gives up his right (upon his wife to stay at home).

“.. Yet their houses (women’s) are better for them (to perform prayer therein).

The Prophet (PBUH) means that it is better for women to perform prayer in their houses to avoid any satanic temptation. The Prophet (PBUH) also said:

This means that women are allowed to go to the mosque (to perform prayer) on the condition that they should not be perfumed, lest they might tempt men with their perfume, thus diverting men’s eyes to them. The intended meaning here is that perfume is something that tempts men towards women. Joined to perfume (in prohibition) is what resembles it (with regard to temptation) like wearing attractive clothes, jewels and adornments. Thereupon, ifa woman perfumes herself or puts on attractive clothes, then she is prohibited to go to the mosque and must be forbidden from going out of her home. It is stated in

Sahih Muslim (Muslim’s Authentic Book of Hadith) and other books of Hadith that the Prophet (PBUH) said:

“Whoever woman perfumes herself should not join us in the ‘Isha’ (Night) Prayer.”

Besides, if a woman went out to the mosque (for prayer), she should keep away from crowded gatherings of mén. Imam Ibnul-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

“Those in authority must forbid mingling between men and women in marketplaces and gatherings of men. The responsibility for this is upon those in authority, since mingling between men and women brings about a great affliction. This is according to the hadith in which the Prophet (PBUH) said, [After me, I have not left any affliction more harmful to men than women.”

“Thus, those in authority must forbid women from going out adorned and beautified (in a seducing way). They must also forbid those women who are dressed but appear to be naked, such as in transparent clothes. Those in authority must also forbid women from talking to men in streets and forbid men as well from doing the same.’

When a woman adheres to the high moral standards of Islam, such as bashfulness, covering herself, keeping away from attractive adornment and perfume (when going out) and keeping away from mingling with men, it becomes permissible for her then to go to the mosque for prayer and attend gatherings for the remembrance of Allah. However, it is better for her to stay at home, because the Prophet (PBUH) said:

“Yet their houses are better for them (to perform prayer therein).”

Moreover, scholars unanimously agree that it is better for women to perform prayer in their houses than in the mosque, to keep away from any satanic seduction, and for purposes of safety and for uprooting any source of evil.

Ifa woman does not adhere to the high moral standards of Islam and does not avoid whatever the Messenger (PBUH) forbids of adornment and perfume when going out, then it is prohibited for her to go to the mosque, and she must be prevented from going out by her guardian or those in authority. It is stated in the Two Sahihs on the authority of ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said:

“Had Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) witnessed what the women were doing, he would have forbidden them from going to the mosque as the women of the Children of Israel had been forbidden.”

When a woman goes to the mosque, both the benefit gained behind this (for her and for the whole community) and the avoiding of any cause of evil are to be taken into account (by the Lawgiver). If the cause of evil is greater than the benefit gained, a woman, in this case, must be prevented from going to the mosque.

Ifa woman is asked to observe these high moral standards when going out to the mosque, then it is more worthy for her to be cautious and to keep away from any cause of temptation when going anywhere other than the mosque. Nowadays, there are some people calling for the participation of the woman in jobs, as in the West and those imitating the morals of the West. Those people are in fact calling for the spread of seductions, leading the woman to her misery and are depriving her of her dignity. Those people should be stopped and there should be an end to the views of the Pre-Islamic Period of Ignorance (the Jahiliyyah) they spread through their tongues or pens. It is sufficient as a proof for us the women in the West and those who model on them. They have gone through a lot of calamities and they have painful lives from which their societies are suffering, Let them be an example for us, for the fortunate person is the one who takes a lesson from the fate of others.

The only pretext those people offer for their view is that half of the society (women) would be idle (if prevented from work). They offer this pretext so that the woman could be on an equal foot with man in work, forgetting or pretending to forget that the woman is already doing a great job in her home. She is doing a great job for her society and only she could do it, since it is suitable for her nature and is in conformity with her natural disposition. She is the wife with whom the husband finds tranquility. She is the mother, the one who bears, breastfeeds, raises children and the one who performs domestic tasks. If she is to leave her home to share man his work, then who else will perform those tasks? Those tasks would not be performed at all, and the society would lose its other half; so what would the first half (ie. men) do? Thereupon, the society's edifice would fall down and its pillars would collapse.

We advise those people to come to their senses, and not to be of those who have exchanged the favor of Allah for disbelief and settled their people in the home of ruin. We also advise them to be of those advocating constructive views not destructive ones.

O Muslim woman! Adhere to the teachings of your religion. Do not let yourself be deluded by the views advocated by the misleading people, who want to deprive you of the dignity granted to you by Islam, and nothing other than Islam can grant you this. Almighty Allah says:

“And whoever desires other than Islam as religion - never will it be accepted from him and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers.” (Qur'an: Alu ‘Imran: 85)

May Allah grant all of us guidance to whatever is good and useful in this world and in the Hereafter!

2 The Two Sahihs: The Two Authentic Books of Al-Bukhari and Muslim. 3 Al-Bukhari (865) [2/448] and Muslim (990) [2/383].

Imamate (in prayer) is an important religious position undertaken by the Messenger (PBUH) himself and the Rightly-Guided Caliphs after him. Many hadiths mention the favor of the imamate, such as the hadith in which the Prophet (PBUH) said:

“Three persons will be on the hillock of musk on the Day of Resur-

rection: (i) the person who leads the people in prayer and they are well-pleased with him...”'

“The reward of him (the imam in prayer) is like that of those who perform prayer behind him.”

That is why one of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all) said to the Prophet (PBUH) “Appoint me to lead my people in prayer.” They have been aware of the reward and merit of the imamate.

Yet, unfortunately, we witness nowadays many of knowledge-seeking students turning away and abstaining from the imamate, giving it up because

of nothing but laziness and the weak wish of obtaining goodness. However, it is Satan only who denies them the will to undertake imamate. Knowledgeseeking students instead, should undertake imamate earnestly and vigorously and should seek the reward of this deed only from Allah. This is because they are more entitled to undertake it and undertake other good tasks. The more one enjoys the qualifications of the imamate, the more it becomes worthy of him to undertake it than any other person who is inferior to him with regard to these qualifications. Rather, the qualified person ought to undertake it if there is no other person but him worthy of it.

The most worthy to lead people in prayer is the one who is most versed in the Book of Allah (i.e. the Quran). The imam should be aware of the places of articulation of letters, make no grammatical mistakes and apply the rules of recitation (of the Quran) without artificiality or stagy eloquence. Besides, the imdém should have Islamic juristic knowledge of prayer; its requirements, integral parts, obligations and what nullifies it in consideration of the hadith in which the Prophet (PBUH) said:

“The one who is most versed in the Book of Allah (the Quran) should lead people in prayer.”

There are also many other authentic hadiths reporting that the most worthy person of leading people in prayer is the most versed in the Glorious Qur'an, and who, at the same time, has juristic knowledge of prayer. This is because the most versed one at the time of the Prophet (PBUH) used to be the one having the greatest religious knowledge.

If people are equally versed in their knowledge of the Qur'an, the one with the greatest religious knowledge should lead the people, since he combines two merits: the good recitation (of the Qur'an) and the Islamic juristic knowledge. This is because the Prophet (PBUH) said:

“If people are equal in recitation (of the Quriin), then the one with the greatest knowledge in the Sunnah (Prophetic Tradition) should lead them in prayer.”

This hadith points to the one having the greatest religious knowledge. This is because the need of those led in prayer for juristic knowledge (of prayer) is more than their need for the rules of recitation. That is because what is obligatory in prayer is limited as far as recitation is concerned, while there are many unlimited situations that may take place generally in prayer.

If people are equally versed in juristic knowledge and recitation, the earliest one in Hegira should lead people in prayer. Hegira here means moving from a place of polytheism to a Muslim one.

If people are equally versed in recitation, juristic knowledge and Hegira, the oldest one should lead the people in prayer, in consideration of a hadith related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim in which the Prophet (PBUH) said:

This is because being old while being a Muslim is a merit; also because old age makes one closer to submissiveness in prayer and makes one’s invocation more worthy of being accepted.

What proves this sequence of those who should lead people in prayer is the hadith related by Muslim on the authority of Ab: Mas‘ td Al-Badri, in which the Prophet (PBUH) says:

“The one who is most versed in Allah's Book (the Quran) should act as the imam for the people, but if they are equally versed in reciting it, then the one who has most knowledge regarding the Sunnah (is to lead the prayer). If they are equal regarding the Sunnah, then the earliest one to immigrate (to Medina) (is to lead the prayer). If they are equal regarding immigration, then the oldest one (is to lead the prayer).”

“The Prophet (PBUH) gives preference in leading people in prayer to those having the greatest knowledge of the Quriin and the Sunnah. If people are equal in this knowledge, preference should be given to those who outstrip the others in doing good deeds. The one who surpasses others in doing good deeds willingly (like the migrant) is given more preference over one who is distinguished in doing good deeds because

Yet, there are some considerations that are to be put into account and are given preference over people attending prayer as far as imamate is concerned, even if those people are better. These considerations are:

Firstly, the assigned imdm (i.e. the one who leads people regularly in prayer): If he is qualified for imamate, it is not permissible to let another person lead the people in prayer, even if this person is better, except with the imdam’s permission.