Question:
I went for Umra with my family this summer. Over there, my mother found the Arab women performing prostration (sajdah) just like men with forearms lifted from the ground etc. while our Hanafi prayer books ask women to prostrate differently from men.
Could you please quote anything from original sources (i.e. the Qur’an and the Sunnah), which would clarify as to what is the correct way of prostration for women?
Regards
Muhammad Farooq Naseer
Reply:
The Prophet (pbuh) determined and uniformly taught all his followers a few parts of the sala’h. While other parts were left on the understanding and practice of individuals. There is and always has been a considerable level of practical uniformity in the ummah in the parts of sala’h belonging to the first category, while there can and do exist some variances in the ummah in the parts of sala’h belonging to the second category.
Some of the important parts of sala’h belonging to the first category are raising of hands close to the ears at the Takbeer e Tehreemah; recitation of Surah Al-Faatihah; recitation of a part of the Qur’an after Surah Al-Faatihah, during the first two rak`ah, especially during the Fajr, Zuhr and `Asr prayers; qiyaam; rukoo and sajdah etc.
On the other hand, some parts of the sala’h belonging to the second category include: Recitation of a part of the Qur’an after Surah Al-Faatihah in the rak`ahs that follow the first two rak`ahs; supplications in the qa`dah and the words of Tasbeeh as well as the number of times they should be repeated during rukoo and sajdah.
Keeping the above explanation in perspective, it should be quite easy to comprehend that the details regarding the method of rukoo or sajdah belong to the second category of parts of Sala’h, the details of which were not determined and strictly fixed by the Prophet (pbuh) and therefore differences and variances may practically be found in these details among Muslims.
However, it is quite clear that the Prophet (pbuh) did not teach any gender-based variances in sala’h. Thus, these variances are not part of the Shari`ah and, therefore, it is not obligatory to be strict about them. On the other hand, because the Prophet (pbuh) did not fix a strict style of rukoo or sajdah, therefore variances in the style of performing them can occur.
In view of the above explanation, none of the referred styles of sajdah can be termed as incorrect.
UIUK team
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