Is It Preferable for a Woman to Pray Tarawih at a Mosque, Musalla, or Home?
Shafi'i Fiqh
Answered By Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Fayez Awad
Question
Is it better for a woman to perform Tarawih prayer in the mosque or musalla (place for public prayer), or at home?
Answer
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Blessings and peace be upon the most noble of the prophets and messengers, and upon his Family, his Companions, and his followers.
General Ruling
Among the sunna practices that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) instituted for this Umma during the month of Ramadan is the Tarawih prayer. The scholars unanimously agree that it is a confirmed sunna in this blessed month and a great ritual among the rituals of Islam.
Many hadiths establish that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) encouraged standing in prayer during Ramadan without commanding it as an obligation.
Among his statements is, “Whoever stands in prayer during Ramadan out of faith and in hope of reward, his previous sins will be forgiven.” [Bukhari; Muslim]
Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) encouraged standing in prayer during Ramadan without making it an obligation, saying, “Whoever stands in prayer during Ramadan out of faith and in hope of reward, his previous sins will be forgiven.” So, the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) passed away, and that was the practice, then it continued during the caliphate of Abu Bakr and the early part of ‘Umar’s caliphate. [Muslim]
This includes both men and women, although a woman’s prayer in her house is better than her prayer in the mosque; unless there is another benefit to her going to the mosque aside from just the prayer, like hearing a religious sermon, a lesson in knowledge, or listening to the Quran recited by a devout and skilled reciter. In such cases, going to the mosque for these purposes is better and more befitting.
Especially since many Muslim women, if they remain in their homes, may not find the desire or determination to perform the Tarawih prayer individually, unlike in the mosque and with the congregation.
Conditions
It should be known that if a woman goes out to the mosque, she must avoid wearing perfume, dress modestly, and avoid crowding men. Her going out to mosques is conditioned on the safety from fitna (temptation or trial). Therefore, the Shafi‘i scholars disliked the idea of young women and older women who are desirable to attend the mosque for congregational prayers. They also disliked it for her husband or guardian to allow her to do so, citing the saying of ‘Aisha (Allah be pleased with her), “Had the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) seen what the women have introduced, he would have banned them from the mosques as the women of Bani Israel were banned.” [Bukhari; Muslim]
If a woman wishes to attend the mosque with men; if she is young or an older woman who is desirable, it is disliked for her to attend. If she is an old woman who is not desirable, it is not disliked for her, as reported by Ibn Mas‘ud (Allah be pleased with him) who said:
“By the One besides whom there is no other god, no woman performs a prayer better for her than the one she performs in her house, except for the Masjid al-Haram or the Masjid of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace), unless she is an old woman in her anchorage.”
Because the desire for her is less, thus she is permitted to attend the mosques, like during Eid.
If the woman is young but not conspicuously beautiful or youthful, it is permissible for her to go out to pray in the mosque, provided she does not wear perfume, there is no fear of fitna (temptation) from her, she goes out in her usual clothing and not in attire of adornment, she does not crowd the men, and the path is safe from the expectation of corruption. If these conditions are not met in her, then it is disliked for her to pray in it.
It is mentioned in “al-Muhadhab”:
“As for women, their congregation in their houses is better, as Ibn ‘Umar (Allah be pleased with them) reported: The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
‘Do not prevent your women from (going to) the mosques, yet their houses are better for them.’
If a woman wants to attend the mosques with men, if she is a young woman or an older woman who is desirable, it is disliked for her to attend. And if she is an old woman who is not desirable, it is not disliked, as it was narrated that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), ‘Forbade women from going out except for an old woman in her anchorage.’” [Nawawi, al-Majmu‘]
Permission
A woman’s departure from her home, even to the mosque, should be with her husband’s permission, as he is the guardian of the home and responsible for the family. His obedience is obligatory unless he commands to neglect a duty or commit a sin; in such cases, his command should not be heeded. It is not the right of a man to prevent his wife from going to the mosque if she wishes to do so, except for a valid reason. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Do not prevent the female servants of Allah from Allah’s mosques.” [Bukhari; Muslim]
A legally valid reason could be, for example, if the husband is sick and needs her to stay by his side to care for him and fulfill his needs. Or if there are young children who would be harmed by being left alone at home during prayer time without anyone to look after them, and similar reasonable hindrances and excuses.
Summary
Thus, we conclude that if women go out to perform the Tarawih prayer with the consent of their guardians or husbands and no corruption arises from their going out, they should not be prevented if they wish to join the communal prayers of Muslims and witness the goodness.
However, if their going out leads to fitna (temptation) and harm, then praying in their homes is better for them; as the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Do not prevent your women from (going to) the mosques, yet their houses are better for them.”
In the hadith reported by Ibn Mas‘ud (Allah be pleased with him), attribute (to the Prophet): “A woman’s prayer in her room is better than her prayer in her house, and her prayer in her closet is better than her prayer in her room.” [Abu Dawud, Bayhaqi; Tabarani]
May Allah make us among those who fast during Ramadan and stand (in prayer) in the best manner.
May Allah’s peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his Family, his Companions, and his followers until the Day of Judgment.
[Shaykh] Dr. Muhammad Fayez Awad
Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Fayez Awad, born in Damascus, Syria, in 1965, pursued his Islamic studies in the mosques and institutes of Damascus. A graduate of the Islamic University of Medina in 1985, he holds a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from Bahauddin Zakariya University in Pakistan.
He has extensive experience developing curricula and enhancing the teaching of various academic courses, including conducting intensive courses. Shaykh Awad has taught Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Quranic sciences, the history of legislation, inheritance laws, and more at several institutes and universities such as Al-Furqan Institute for Islamic Sciences and Majma‘ al-Fath al-Islami in Damascus.
He is a lecturer at the Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih Waqf University in Istanbul, teaching various Arabic and Islamic subjects, and teaches at numerous Islamic institutes in Istanbul. Shaykh Awad is a member of the Association of Syrian Scholars, a founding member of the Zayd bin Thabit Foundation, a member of the Syrian Scholars Association, and a member of the Academic Council at the Iman Center for Teaching the Sunna and Quran.
Among his teachers from whom he received Ijazat are his father, Shaykh Muhammad Muhiyiddin Awad, Shaykh Muhiyiddin al-Kurdi, Shaykh Muhammad Karim Rajih, Shaykh Usama al-Rifai, Shaykh Ayman Suwaid, Shaykh Ahmad al-Qalash, Shaykh Muhammad Awwama, and Shaykh Mamduh Junayd.
