Is taraaweeh prayer required for women?
Which is better for women, to perform Taraaweeh at home or
in a mosque?
Praise be to Allaah.
Taraaweeh prayer is not obligatory for women, and it is
still better for them to perform the Night Prayer at home, because the Prophet
SAWS (Peace & Blessings of Allah be upon Him) said:
"Do not prevent your women from going to the mosque,
even though their houses are better for them." (Reported by Abu Dawud in
al-Sunan, Baab maa jaa'a fee khurooj al-nisaa' ilaa'l-masjid: Baab al-tashdeed
fee dhaalik. See also Saheeh al-Jaami', no. 7458) .
Whenever a woman prays in a place that is more private and
more hidden, that is better for her, as the
Prophet SAWS (Peace & Blessings
of Allah be upon Him) said: "A woman's prayer in her house is better than
her prayer in her courtyard, and her prayer in her bedroom is better than her
prayer in her house." (Reported by Abu Dawud in al-Sunan, Baab maa jaa'a
fee khurooj al-nisaa' ilaa'l-masjid. See also Saheeh al-Jaami', no. 3833).
Umm Humayd, the wife of Abu Humayd al-Saa'idi reported that
she came to the Prophet SAWS (Peace & Blessings of Allah be upon Him) and
said: "O Messenger of Allaah, I love to pray with you." He said:
"I know that you love to pray with me, but praying in your house is better
for you than praying in your courtyard, and praying in your courtyard is better
for you than praying in the mosque of your people, and praying in the mosque of
your people is better for you than praying in my mosque." So she ordered
that a prayer-place be built for her in the furthest and darkest part of her
house, and she always prayed there until she met Allaah (i.e., until she died).
(Reported by Imaam Ahmad; the men of its isnaad are thiqaat (trustworthy) ).
But the fact that praying at home is preferable does not
mean that that women are not permitted to go to the mosque, as is clear from
the following hadeeth:
From 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar, who said: "I heard the
Messenger of Allaah SAWS (Peace & Blessings of Allah be upon Him) say: 'Do
not prevent your women from going to the mosque if they ask your
permission.'" Bilaal ibn 'Abdullah said, "By Allaah, we will prevent
them." (Ibn 'Umar) turned to him and told him off in an unprecedented
fashion, saying: "I tell you what the Messenger of Allaah SAWS (Peace
& Blessings of Allah be upon Him) said, and you say 'By Allaah, we will
prevent them'!!" (reported by Muslim, 667).
But there are conditions attached to the permission for
women to go to the mosque, as follows:
(1) She should wear complete hijaab.
(2) She should not go out wearing perfume.
(3) She should have the permission of her husband.
Her going out should not involve any other kind of
prohibited acts, such as being alone in a car with a non-mahram driver. If a
woman does something wrong like that, her husband or guardian has the right to
stop her; in fact it is his duty to do so.
I asked our shaykh, Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez, about Taraaweeh
prayer in particular, and whether it is better for a woman to perform this
prayer in the mosque. He replied in the negative and said that the ahaadeeth
that state that it is preferable for a woman to pray in her house apply to all
prayers, and this includes Taraaweeh as well as others. And Allaah knows best.
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said,
“When Allah wishes good for someone, He bestows upon him the
understanding of the Deen.” [Bukhari]
Source: www.islamqa.com
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