Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

dear Mr Burhan

Assalamo laikum

i am very much satisfied and thankful to you for all my queires answered in the best manner. i appreciate your hard word. May allah bless you.

sajdah during salah:

as there is a separate section for ladies in the mosque, when the prayer is in progress, when sajdah comes , imam calls Allahu akbar, and we ladies think that we have to go to ruku, and we do that later on we realises when he continues with the surahs that we had to do sujood. so this way we are doing twice ruku, in this what must we do, and the sajdah is also left as we contine with the imam.

pls. help me for the above, how would we know there is sajdah coming as i dont know the quran byheart.

my second question:

in mosque some ladies come with the abaya with smelling of bukhoor , is it

permissible this scent on the clothes while praying.

thank you

a sister

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Answer:

Perfume women mosques

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

May Allah Subhanah reward you with the best of this world and the Hereafter for your kind comments of encouragement for our humble efforts in the propagation of the Truth. If our humble and modest efforts have helped even one brother or sister get closer to Allah and His Deen of Truth, then we would consider ourselves indeed fortunate to have been given this opportunity by the Lord Most Merciful to serve in His Cause. We hope, beg, and pray the Merciful Lord accepts our humble and weak efforts, forgives us our shortcomings, and saves you, us, and all the believers from the torment of the Hell Fire. Ameen.

Your Question: pls. help me for the above, how would we know there is sajdah coming as i dont know the quran byheart.

Dear and beloved Sister in Islam, unless one knows the Quran by heart or one understands well what is being recited, it would indeed be difficult to know when the Verse of Sajdah is being recited in the prayers. Some good ‘imams’ announce before they start their prayer that they will be reciting a Verse of Sajdah in the first or the second rakah so that the believers praying behind them are aware of its occurrence, but they are under absolutely no obligation to do so.

If the ‘imam’ recites the Verse of Sajdah and declares the ‘takbeer’ to go into ‘sajdah’ of recitation in the rakah, it may happen that the believers praying behind the ‘imam’ assume that it is the end of the rakah and they move into the ‘ruku’ position. In the men section, because they can see the others going into prostration, it is easily discernable; but one can imagine that in the secluded women section, the sisters might not realize that the ‘takbeer’ was for a ‘sajdah’ of recitation.

If the sisters mistakenly go into the ‘ruku’ position when the ‘imam’ declares the ‘takbeer’ for a ‘sajdah’ of recitation in the rakah, there is absolutely no harm. As soon as the ‘imam’ declares the ‘takbeer’ again and starts the Quran recitation to continue his rakah, it should become obvious then to the sisters that the call was for a ‘sajdah’ of recitation. Thus in such a situation, the sisters should continue their prayer with the ‘imam’ until its end, but because they have missed the ‘sajdah’ of recitation, they should make a ‘sajdah’ after the prayer has been completed, and that would suffice to fulfill the Sunnah of the ‘sajdah’ of recitation.

Your Question: in mosque some ladies come with the abaya with smelling of bukhoor , is it permissible this scent on the clothes while praying.

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 4037 Narrated by Imran ibn Husayn

The Prophet (saws) said: ‘The perfume used by men should have an odour but no colour, and the perfume used by women should have a colour but no odour.’ The companions interpreted this tradition about perfume used by women as applying when she comes out. But when she is with her husband or mehrams, she may use any perfume she wishes.

Al-Muwatta Hadith 14.13

Yahya related from Malik that he had heard from Busr ibn Said that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said, "None of you women should use perfume when you are present at the ‘isha’ prayer."

In the days of the Prophet (saws), there was no seclusion for the women in the mosque like most mosques of today, and the women in those times would form their rows some distance behind the rows of the men. Thus because the sweet fragrance of the women’s perfume could attract the attention of non-mehram men and thus perchance distract them from their prayers, the Messenger of Allah (saws) forbade the believing woman who attended the prayers in the mosques to abstain from using perfume.

But today since there are absolutely secluded areas for the believing woman in the mosques, if a sister wishes to apply perfume or ‘bukhoor’, and is absolutely confident that from the time she leaves her house until she returns back to her house, no non-mehram men will smell her perfume, there is absolutely no harm if she applies perfume or ‘bukhoor’ and offers her prayers in the mosques.

But if there is even an iota of a fear that some non-mehram men may be able to smell the sweet fragrance of her perfume and thus attract attention towards her, then it would be closest to piety and righteousness, and in accordance with the conditions of the ‘hijaab’ that the sister abstain from applying perfume or ‘bukhoor’ when she leaves her house.

Praying with perfume or fragrance applied is absolutely lawful for the believing woman, but what has been strictly forbidden by the Messenger of Allah (saws) is that the fragrance of the believing woman should attract the attention of non-mehram men towards her when she leaves her house, either for the mosques or for the markets, or anywhere else for that matter; for that then would violate the conditions of her ‘hijaab’.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 24 Surah Nur verse 31:

(O Prophet) enjoin the believing woman to restrain their gaze and guard their modesty, and not to display their adornment except that which is displayed of itself, and to draw their veils over their bosoms, and not to display their adornments except before their husbands, their fathers, …….and also forbid them to stamp their feet on the ground lest their hidden ornaments should be displayed.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan