Home
Discover Islam
Quran Recitations
Lectures
Fatwa
Articles
Fiqh
E-Books
Women
Boys & Girls 
Enter Question
View By Subject
Fatwa Of The Week
Selected Fatwa
Fatwa CenterShaafi‘i's view on congregational prayer for women
Question
Assalamu alaikum, kindly support me to get Ash-Shaafi‘i's (RA) view about the below. My mother and wife are in my house . is it more better them pray alone ? or together ? . then who could be imam.
Answer
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, sallallaahu`alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and messenger.
The Shaafiʿi School of Jurisprudence holds the view that it is recommended for women to observe prayer in congregation, taking into account that recommendation on men’s part as to the congregational prayer is stronger than its counterpart for women. As such, it is disliked for men, not women, to leave the congregational prayer. In Mughni Al-Muhtaaj, it is recorded "The level of recommendation for women is not as strong as the recommendation on the part of men, which is the most authentic opinion. That is because men are privileged with a degree over women – a fact recorded in the Glorious Quran (what means): {But the men have a degree over them [in responsibility and authority].} [Quran, 2:228] As such, it is disliked for men, not women, to leave it (i.e., the congregational prayer), since it is not an obligation upon women."
As such, it is preferred for your wife and mother to observe prayer in congregation; however, it is also permissible for them to individually observe prayer without any kind of detestability. In case they would observe the prayer in congregation, any of them that is more knowledgeable in Fiqh should lead the other; but if they are on an equal footing as to the knowledge of Fiqh, the one who can recite better should be given precedence; yet in case they are of the same degree of good recitation, the older of them should be the Imam. This is the correct way of choosing Imams in prayer in the Shafiʿi School of Jurisprudence. In his Al-Minhaaj, An-Nawawi 
said, “The most authentic opinion is that the most knowledgeable in Fiqh should be given precedence over those who recite well and those who are righteous, and the most knowledgeable in Fiqh and those who recite well shall be given precedence over the aged.”
Allah knows best.
Search Fatwa
Fatwa Subject
