Why women stand behind men during the prayer.
The reason for women standing behind men might come as a shock to most people. The Prophet (peace be upon him) dealt with a people who were raw desert Bedouin Arabs. For this reason, He (peace be upon him) would encourage them to eat with their right hand, use three fingers, not to speak whilst easting and to eat slowly. He (peace be upon him) also taught them how to clean themselves after urinating and so on.
This certainly tells one a bit about the people he peace be upon him dealt with. You might find some later scholars finding no problems if the family speaks to each other while eating as this allows the family to bond in this day and age. This also ensures that the family eats slower.
We need to keep in mind the context and people the prophet (peace be upon him) dealt with so that we can clearly understand why the prophet said, ‘do not blow your food or do not do this or do not do that…’ This for example is a well-known tradition and here, the context is, ‘do not blow your food (while sitting close to others, else you might spit or interfere with the next persons meal)’. Again, we learn about the people he (peace be upon him) dealt with.
Even though these cases are specific, the prophetic example, regardless if it be specific to a particular case or a general one, is of benefit to us and only through emulating him (peace be upon him), both internally and externally, can we achieve enlightenment.
As the great Abu al-Qasim Junaid al-Baghdadi (May Allah sanctify his soul) said,
“the path is cut off from the creation, save the one who carefully follows the reports of the messenger of Allah, follows his sunna, and sticks to the path. This is because the paths of goodness are all open to him and those who follow him and his reports.”
Now that we have a bit of understanding about the people the prophet (peace be upon him) dealt with, the following is the context regarding the Salah.
During the early days when the prayer was instituted, they would shout out to each other during the prayer, ‘how far are you? How many cycles/rakats have you completed’. Men would wink at women and even grab them. It was the Prophets wife, the Jewish, Safiya (the daughter of Huyayy ibn Akhtab, who was the chief of the Banu Nadir) who complained to the Prophet because some of the Bedouins would wink and grabbed the ladies during Salah. This was the reason for the prophet (peace be upon him) saying, ‘Men should stand in front during prayer and females should stand at the back, while children are in between’.
The reason for this is twofold,
a) Men were not disciplined and b) Women were disciplined.
For some strange reason we tend to believe that woman at the back in prayer means they are lower and less deserving and men have power. If you think about it, in school, the most trusted students sit far at the back while those who cannot behave sit right in front.
At the beginning, men and women used to enter the mosque through the same door. When this caused overcrowding on entrances and exits, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said ‘It would be better if this door (in the Holy City) is left for women.’
Upon saying so, the men made that door for women, and it became known up until today as “The Women’s Door” or Bab al-Nisa.
And Allah knows best,
Muhammad Allie Khalfe.
Shafi’i Fiqh « islamictext said,
February 17, 2012 at 8:46 am
[...] 1. Why women stand behind men during the prayer. [...]
Ferzana Husain said,
July 30, 2012 at 9:28 am
Makes sense…jazakaAllah
ahibas said,
July 31, 2012 at 11:16 pm
I understand that praying behind men is commanded in religion and thats fine. But in terms of this being the reasoning behind it, why would the bedouins not just be instructed to not treat the women inappropriately?
Muhammad Allie Khalfe said,
August 1, 2012 at 5:33 am
As salamu ‘alaykum
Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim
Islam, no doubt came to liberate woman. We see our Prophet (peace be upon him) showing and teaching all those around him that heaven lies at the feet of thy mother.
He (peace be upon him) was consoled by lady Khadija after receiving his first revelation. Islam gave woman their divine right to inherit, which was unheard of before.
We have a dedicated section on the major roles and importance of the female in human society on this site. One of the best articles IV come across is by our very own Dr. Shaykh Yusuf Da Costa, click the link below to view
http://islamictext.wordpress.com/the-standing-of-women-in-the-eyes-of-our-lord-by-shaykh-yusuf-da-costa/
Sometimes we look for the literal or technical meanings before accepting a ruling. This is accepted but at the same time we need to look a bit deeper.
Imam Ghazali says that we love our partners irrationally, meaning we would go through hardship, spend our last savings on a special person and do the most bizarre things out of love. When we are asked for the reason, we say, ‘I am in love’. Love has its own language and is simply irrational.
How then do we define our love for Allah? We pray four raka’at for Dhuhr salah, our tawaf is seven circumambulations, we run from Safa to Marwa during the Hajj with no rational explanation. We do this out of love for our Creator Subhanahu wa ta’ala and out of obedience.
We might not have the exact answer as to spiritual benefit of men being in the front and females at the back with children in the middle during the prayer but we submit to Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala as this was the order from the Rasul (peace be upon him) and his actions we accept as inspiration from the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth as Allah says in Surah Najm:
wa man yantiqu ‘ani l-hawa
Nor does he (peace be upon him) speak from his own desires
in huwa illa wahyu yuha
it is none but revelation unto him.
And Allah knows best
Muhammad Allie.
rodi said,
February 8, 2013 at 3:42 pm
what is the source of this hadith please ??