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 brother Burhan

Asalam oalaikum

jazakAllah for your wonderful work! I really benefited from your various mails which are posted in this forum. I had a couple of questions in my mind & I couldn’t get any valid answers to them. I hope u can guide me with the help of the Quran & the Sunnah

1)Is there any difference b/w a woman’s way of prayer & a man’s way ; because some people say that a woman should pray in such a fashion that all curled up. In Indo-Pak this way is adopted but after staying in Jeddah & visiting the holy mosques & Mecca & Medina I have seen women praying (prostrating) in the same manner as men. Please elaborate & I have also read a Hadith in which the Prophet Mohammad. (p.b.u.h) forbade the Muslims not to prostrate in such a manner which resembles the posture of a dog.

Wassalam .

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Men and women prayer different

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 no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

There is absolutely no difference in the form or way of the prayer between a man and a woman.

But when praying in a public place, some companions of the Messenger of Allah (saws) would guide their women to pray in a curled-up manner, so that their ‘satr’ would be better honored and protected. The Hanafi School of Thought is more inclined towards this type of prayer for the believing woman.

To protect and honor the satr of the believing woman, the Messenger of Allah (saws) also guided them to pray behind the men when in congregation, so that when the women bend in ‘rukuu’ and ‘sujood’, they are not visible to the men and their ‘satr’ is better protected.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 1.785 Narrated by Anas bin Malik

The Prophet (saws) said, "Be straight in the prostrations, and none of you should put his forearms on the ground (in the prostration) like a dog."

The hadith whereby the Prophet (saws) forbade the believers to prostrate in a manner that resembles a dog is a different issue. What the Prophet (saws) forbade was that when doing prostration, one must touch the ground only with his forehead and palms, and not stretch out his full fore-arms on the ground. This does not apply to the woman when she prostrates in a curled-up fashion, because she can still pray curled-up and touch only her palms and forehead on the ground in prostration.

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

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan