Women’s prayer in market
| Fatwa #1187 | Category: Prayer (Salaat) | Country: India | Date: 5th August 2024 |
| Fatwa #1187 | Date: 5th August 2024 |
| Category: Prayer (Salaat) | |
| Country: India | |
Question
Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu,
I would like to know how women should pray their obligatory salah when they are outside their home. In the region where I live, most mosques do not have facilities for women to pray (no separate screened rooms or facilities for making wudu). I understand that salah is obligatory at its fixed time for both men and women. Therefore, I have informed my mother and sister to go out for shopping, etc., after having prayed Maghrib so that they do not miss any prayers while being outside.
However, a scenario may arise where my mother needs to go out (like for urgent work or a medical emergency to the hospital) during Zuhr or Asr. If this happens, she won’t be able to make wudu or perform salah in public places (in this non-Muslim land, the government has prohibited praying in public spaces). Please guide me on how a woman who goes out in public during Zuhr or Asr time should make wudu and pray Asr or Maghrib while being outside (as per hanafi fiqh which we follow).
JazakAllahu Khair
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
It is best to avoid going out when one fears missing the salah. There is no leeway to miss the salah as one can always find a spot to perform wudhu and salah even when outside. If this means that one must carry a bottle of water, a musalla, and wear masah socks, then so be it. Similarly, if this means one must perform the salah in a public space albeit out of sight of people, then so be it. Salah cannot be missed.
The women can still use the masjid yard and perform wudhu and salah on one side perform salah in her niqaab. This is easier than doing so in the public. If it is outside salah times, and the masjid itself is empty, women can enter and perform their salah inside.
If the masaajid in the area do not have separate females’ facilities, one should petition the committee to create a female’s section, even if it is small, where travellers and people in town may perform their wudhu and salah. If this is a genuine concern of many Muslims in the area, it is necessary on the people in charge of the masaajid to cater for this need.
The other option is to check and see if there are any houses of Muslims nearby and establish contact. Perhaps they might allow women to perform their salah in their home.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Bilal Pandor
Concurred by
Mufti Muhammad Patel
Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah
Lusaka, Zambia