 | Women as imams: Encyclopedia II - Women as imams - Canonical position
Women as imams - Canonical position
The Qur'an does not address this issue directly; relevant precedents are therefore sought for in the hadith, the traditions attributed to Muhammad. The only hadith that unequivocally states that women may not lead mixed congregations is Ibn Majah (Kitab iqamat is-salat was-sunnati fiha) #1134, narrated through Jabir ibn Abdullah: "A woman may not lead a man in Prayer, nor may a Bedouin lead a believer of the Muhajirun or a corrupt person lead a committed Muslim in Prayer." However, Qatar-based scholar, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, [1] states that "The eminent scholars of Hadith say that the chain of reporters of this hadith is extremely weak, and hence, it is not to be taken as evidence in the question in hand."
A hadith commonly cited in this connection is that of Umm Waraqah, described by Abu Dawud as "an esteemed woman of Ansaar, who had memorized the Qur’an". Abu Dawud reported: "The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to visit her in her own home; he appointed a mu’adhin for her, and ordered her to lead the members of her household (in Salah)" (Sunan Abi Dawud #592). He also gives another version of this hadith through a different narrator (#591) which does not mention an order to lead her household in prayer. Variants of this hadith are recorded by several of the hadith collectors: Imam Ahmad, al-Hakim in his Mustadrak, ibn al-Jarud, ibn Khuzaimah, al-Bayhaqi in al-Kubra and al-Sughra, Abu Dawud, al-Tabarani and al-Daraqutni; according to Qaradawi, the latter "reported that the order the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave to Umm Waraqah here was that she lead the women among her household in Prayer." This hadith's reliability is variously described as "weak" or "good" by different scholars. Since Umm Waraqah's household included men, this hadith is used by supporters of the claim that women can lead men in prayer; some even suggest that the word translated as "house" (dar) should be taken to refer to her whole area (else, they reason, why appoint a muezzin?) However, most scholars regard this as an invalid deduction, believing that, even if the hadith is correct, it would apply only to a woman leading her immediate family in prayer (where, they state, the issue of the men being aroused by her presence is effectively nullified), or that this privilege was given only to Umm Waraqah and has no general applicability.
An indirectly relevant hadith is widely considered to be crucial, as Qaradawi goes on to state, since the imam stands at the front of the congregation. The hadith in question is #881 of Sahih Muslim:
Abu Huraira said: The best rows for men are the first rows, and the worst ones the last ones, and the best rows for women are the last ones and the worst ones for them are the first ones.[2]
The sunnah—actions of Muhammad (including but not limited to hadith)—is a more general source of precedent; it is usually considered to militate against women leading mixed congregations, as there are no reports of it happening in Muhammad's time, unless, as Amina Wadud suggested, the aforementioned Umm Waraqah hadith is interpreted to apply to her town rather than to her household alone. However, as noted above, there are also no reliable reports of his forbidding it.
A third source of precedent is the principle of ijma—consensus—supported by the hadith "My community will never agree upon an error." This is also generally quoted against it, since the consensus of the traditional jurists is overwhelmingly against it; however, supporters of the idea argue that this consensus is not universal.
With regard to women leading congregations of women, however, several hadith report that Muhammad's (peace be upon him) wife Aisha and Umm Salamah did so, and as a result most madhhabs support this. According to Qaradawi:
The hadith of `A’ishah and Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with them). `Abdur-Raziq (5086), Ad-Daraqutni (1/404) and Al-Bayhaqi (3/131) reported from the narration of Abu Hazim Maysarah ibn Habib from Ra’itah Al-Hanafiyyah from `A’ishah that she led women in Prayer and stood among them in an obligatory Prayer. Moreover, Ibn Abi Shaybah (2/89) reported from the chain of narrators of Ibn Abi Layla from `Ata’ that `A’ishah used to say the Adhan, the Iqamah, and lead women in Prayer while standing among them in the same row. Al-Hakim also reported the same hadith from the chain of narrators of Layth Ibn Abi Sulaim from `Ata’, and the wording of the hadith mentioned here is Al-Hakim’s.
Furthermore, Ash-Shafi`i (315), Ibn Abi Shaybah (88/2) and `Abdur-Raziq (5082) reported from two chains of narrators that report the narration of `Ammar Ad-Dahni in which he stated that a woman from his tribe named Hujayrah narrated that Umm Salamh used to lead women in Prayer while standing among them in the same row.
The wording of `Abdur-Raziq for the same hadith is as follows: “Umm Salamah led us (women) in the `Asr Prayer and stood among us (in the same row).”
In addition, Al-Hafiz said in Ad-Dirayah (1/169), “Muhammad ibn Al-Husain reported from the narration of Ibrahim An-Nakh`i that `A’ishah used to lead women in Prayer during the month of Ramadan while standing among them in the same row.
Further, `Abdur-Raziq reported (5083) from the narration of Ibrahim ibn Muhammad from Dawud ibn Al-Husain from `Ikrimah from Ibn `Abbas that the latter said, “A woman can lead women in Prayer while standing between them.”
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 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Canonical position", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
