An Examination of Female led Prayer

The prophet proclaimed in this life there is 70thousand piosed muslim and only one will enter heaven...

Bi ismillahir rahmanir raheem

Notes:

1 Throughout this article I use the word �God� instead of �Allah.� Use of the word God makes our writing

far more accessible to non-Muslims, without betraying in any sense the essential meanings conveyed by the

Divine Name. For example, in the American Heritage dictionary God is defined as, �A being conceived as

the perfect, omnipotent, omniscient originator and ruler of the universe, the principal object of faith and

worship in the monotheistic religions.� See William Morris, ed., The American Heritage Dictionary of The

English Language, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company 1976) p. 564.

2 Quoted in Salih b. �Abdullah b. Humayd, Nadra an-Na�im, (Judda, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 1999/1419)

5180.

3 Ibid., 5178.

4 See Nevin Reda, What Would the Prophet Do? The Islamic Basis for Female-Led Prayer, March 10,

2005, at http://www.muslimwakeup.com/main/archives/2005/03/002706 print.php.

 

5 Ibid., p. 1.

6 Imam Muhammad al-�Adhimabadi, �Awn al-Ma�bud Sharh Sunan Abi Dawud, (Beirut: Dar al-Kitab

al-�Arabi, nd) 2:300-301, #577-578.

7 Imam �Ali b. �Umar ad-Daraqutni, Sunan ad-Daraqutni, (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-�Ilmiyya) 1:284, #1071.

8 Abu Bakr Ahmad b. al-Husayn al-Bayhaqi, as-Sunan al-Kubra, Muhammad �Abd al-Qadir �Ata, ed.,

(Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-�Ilmiyya, 1994/1414) 3:186-187.

9 Imam Muhammad b. �Abdullah al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak �ala as-Sahihayn, (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub

al-�Ilmiyya, 1990/1411) 1:320, #730.

10 Muhammad b. Sa�d az-Zuhri, at-Tabaqat al-Kubra, (Beirut: Dar Ihya at-Tarath al-�Arabi) 8:460, #4610.

11 See Ahmad Khan, trans., Sunan Abu Dawud, (Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, 1984) 1: 155-156.

12 His name is properly pronounced in the diminutive form Jumay� as opposed to Jami�. See Ibn Hajar

al-�Asqalani, Tahdhib at-Tahdhib, (Beirut: Dar al-Ma�rifa, 1996/1417) 6:87.

13 See Shams ad-Din Muhammad b. Ahmad adh-Dhahabi, Mizan al-�Itidal, (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub

al-�Ilmiyya, 1995/1416) 7:129.

14 Ibn Hajar, at-Tahdhib, 6:88.

15 See Ibn Hajar al-�Asqalani, Taqrib at-Tahdhib, (Beirut: Mu�assah ar-Risala, 1999/1420) p. 281; Ibn

Hajar, at-Tahdhib, 3:339.

16 Imam �Ali b. �Umar ad-Daraqutni, Sunan ad-Daraqutni, (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-�Ilmiyya, 1996/1417)

1: 284, #1071. Imam ad-Daraqutni mentions al-Walid as narrating the tradition from �his mother.�

17 See Imam Jalaladdin as-Suyuti, Tadrib ar-Rawi, (Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al-�Arabi, 1996/1417) 1:268;

Mulla �Ali al-Qari, Sharh Nukhba al-Fikr, (Beirut: Dar al-Arqam, nd) p. 519.

18 Imam al-Bukhari has included a section in his compendium of rigorously-authenticated ahadith entitled,

�Mosques in the Houses.� Ibn Hajar al-�Asqalani, Fath al-Bari: Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari, (Damascus: Dar

al-Fayha�, 1997/1418) 1:672.

19 Ibid., sec. 46.

20 Ibid,. #425.

21 Imam Muhammad b. Yazid b. Majah, Sunan ibn Majah, (Riyad: Dar as-Salaam, 1999/1420) 108, #755.

22 Ibid., #759.

23 Tahir Ahmad Zawi, Tartib al-Qamus al-Muhit, Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, nd) 2:229; Muhammad b. Mukram b.

Mandhur, Lisan al-�Arab, (Beirut: Dar as-Sadir, 2000/1420) 5:325; Raghib al-Isfahani, Mufradat Alfadh al-

Qur�an, (Beirut: Dar al-Ma�rifa) 321.

24 �Ali Ahmad an-Nadwi, al-Qawa�id al-Fiqhiyya, (Damascus: Dar al-Qalam, 2000, 1420) 223.

25 See Adhimabadi, �Awn al-Ma�bud, 301-303.

26 Reda, 4.

27 For the Shafi�i position on this issue see Muhammad b. al-Khatib ash-Shirbini, Mughni al-Muhtaj,

(Beirut: Dar al-Ma�rifa, 1997/1419) 1:209.

28 Ibn Hajar al-�Asqalani, Fath al-Bari Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari, (Damascus: Dar al-Fayha�, 1997/1418)

2:116, #609;

29 We will discuss the opinions of these four Imams subsequently.

30 �Abd al-Karim az-Zaydan, al-Mufassal fii Ahkam al-Mar�a wa�l Bayt al-Muslim, (Beirut: Mu�assa ar-

Risala, 1994/1410) 1:252. Muhammad b. Isma�il as-Sana�ni, Subul as-Salaam, (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub

al-�Ilmiyya) 2:76.

31 Ibn Hajar, Fath al-Bari, 1:675.

32 Ad-Daraqutni, as-Sunan, 1:284, #1071.

33 �Ali Ahmad an-Nadwi, Qawa�id, 180, 459.

34 See Muwaffaq ad-Din b Ibn Qudam al-Maqdisi, al-Mughni, (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, nd) 2:34.

35 For a examples of these female-led prayers see For a summary of these narrations see al-�Adhimabadi,

2:301-302; Abu Bakr Ahmad b. al-Husayn al-Bayhaqi, as-Sunan al-Kubra, Muhammad �Abd al-Qadir

�Ata, ed., (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-�Ilmiyya, 1994/1414) 3:186-187; Muhammad b. Idris ash-Shafi�i, Kitab

al-Umm, (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1983/1403) 8:117. �Abd al-Karim az-Zaydan, al-Mufassal fii Ahkam al-

Mar�a wa�l Bayt al-Muslim, (Beirut: Mu�assa ar-Risala, 1994/1410) 1:251-256.

36 See Muhammad Amin b. �Abideen, Hashiya Radd al-Mukhtar, (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1995/1415) 1:609;

�Ala ad-Din b. Mas�ud al-Kasani, Bada�ii As-Sana�ii Fi Tartib ash-Shara�ii, (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub

al-�Ilmiyya, 1986/1407) 1:157.

37 See Ahmad Zarruq and Qasim b. �Isa at-Tannukhi, Sharh �Ala Matn ar-Risala, (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr,

1986/1402) 1:192.

38 For the Hanafi position on this issue see Ibn �Abideen, Hashiya, 1:609; for the Shafi�i position see Abu

Zakariyya b. Sharaf an-Nawawi, Kitab al-Majmu� Sharh al-Muhadhdhab, Muhammad Najib al-Muti�I, ed.

(Beirut: Dar Ihya at-Turath al-�Arabi, 1995/1415) 4:151-152. For the Hanbali position see, Ibn Qudama,

al-Mughni, 2:34.

39 An-Nawawi, al-Majmu�, 4:152.

40 Ibid., 4:165.

41 See as-San�ani, Subul as-Salaam, 2:76; az-Zaydan, al-Mufassal, 1:252.

42 I use the term �ancillary� to describe this �evidence� as it cannot serve as a primary source of legal

rulings. In some circumstances, it could possibly support or strengthen a ruling established by one of the

primary sources of law. Hence, its description as ancillary.

43 Reda, 1-2.

44 Muhammad Hashim Kamali, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, (Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society,

2003) 491-492.

45 See Muhammad b. Idris ash-Shafi�i, Kitab al-Umm, (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1983/1403) 8:117.

46 See Ibn Hazm al-Andulusi, al-Ihkam fi Usul al-Ahkam, Ahmad Shakir, ed., (Beirut: Dar al-Afaq al-

Jadida, 1980). The differences between the methodology of Ibn Hazm and the mainstream of Ahl as-

Sunnah have been most prominently highlighted by Imam al-Baji. See, Al-Mustafa al-Wadifi, al-

Munadhira fi Usul ash-Shari�ah al-Islamiyya: Dirasa fi at-Tanadhur bayna Ibn Hazm wa�l-Baji, (Ribat:

Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, Kingdom of Morocco, 1998/1419).

47 Ibn Hazm, Maratib al-Ijma�, (Beirut: Dar Ibn Hazm, 1998/1419) 51.

48 This point is made for the sake of argument. In reality, the issue under discussion is not one that is

eligible to be settled by establishing preponderance, because one of the conditions for such issues is that the

two opposing positions be acceptable for establishing a ruling. See Imam Sayfuddin b. Abi �Ali al-Amidi,

Al-Ihkam fi Usul al-Ahkam, (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-�Ilmiyya, 1985/1405) 4:460.

49 The prohibition of unrestricted female prayer-leadership is established by the consensus of the four Sunni

Imams: Abu Hanifa, Malik, ash-Shafi�i, and Ahmad. A generally accepted principle among the Sunnis is

that what the four Imams agree on is a binding ruling. In the last section of his treatise on the Creed of Ahl

as-Sunnah wa�l-Jama�ah, Muwaffaq b. Qudamah al-Maqdisi writes, �Association with one of the Imams in

jurisprudential matters, such as the four Sunni schools, is not condemnable. Their [the Imams] differing in

legal rulings is a mercy. Those who differed among them are praised for their differences, rewarded for

their assertion [in trying to ascertain the truth]. [Again,] their differing is an expansive mercy, and what

they agreed on is a decisive proof.� Muwaffaq b. Qudamah al-Maqdisi, al-�Itiqad, (Cairo: Maktaba al-

Qur�an, nd) 75. Ibn Hazm, and others, claim that the prohibition of unrestricted female prayer-leadership is

established by binding consensus. See Imam Ibn Hazm adh-Dhahiri, Maratib al-�Ijma�, (Beirut: Dar Ibn

Hazm, 1998/1419) 51. Were it indeed the case that binding consensus has occurred on this issue, to reject it

would be considered disbelief in the Sunni tradition.

50 �Ali Ahmad an-Nadwi, al-Qawa�id, 105.

51 Reda, 7.

52 An-Nawawi, al-Minhaj, 4:376-388, #974-979.

53 Ibn Hajar al-�Asqalani, Fath al-Bari, 2:272, #723.

54 Imam Abu Dawud as-Sajistani, Sunan Abu Dawud, (Riyad: Dar as-Salaam, 1999/1420) 107, #668.

55 Imam Abu �Isa at-Tirmidhi, Jami� at-Tirmidhi, (Riyad: Dar as-Salaam, 1999/1420) 72, #227.

56 Imam Ahmad b. Shu�ayb an-Nasa�i, Sunan an-Nasa�i, (Riyad: Dar as-Salaam, 1999/1420) 112, #812-

814.

57 Ibn Majah, 140, #993-994.

58 Reda, 7.

59 Ibid.

60 Ibn Hajar al-�Asqalani, Fath al-Bari, 275, #727.

61 This narration is produced by Imam al-Bayhaqi in his collection. Al-Bayhaqi, 3:139, #5169,

62 Al-Qur�an 15:24. For an explanation of the circumstance surrounding the revelation of this verse see

Imam Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti, Lubab an-Nuqul fi Asbab an-Nuzul, (Beirut: Dar al-Ma�rifa, 1997/1418) p.

172. This tradition is also related by Imams at-Tirmidhi, an-Nasa�i, al-Hakim, and others.

63 Ibn Hajar al-�Asqalani, Fath al-Bari, 2:601, #978-979.

64 An-Nawawi, al-Minhaj, 3:420-421, #2054.

65 Ibn Hajar al-�Asqalani, Fath al-Bari, 2:601, #978-979.

66 Reda, 8.

67 Ibid.

68 Ibn Hajar al-�Asqalani, Fath al-Bari, 9:172, #5096.

69 An-Nawawi, al-Minhaj, 9:57, #6880.

70 At-Tirmidhi, 627-628, #2780.

71 Juynboll insists that Imam Malik fabricated all of the ahadith he relates from Nafi�.

72 Harald Motzki, �Whither hadith-studies? A Critical examination of G.H.A. Juynboll�s �Nafi� the mawla

of Ibn �Umar, and his position in Muslim Hadith �Literature Part 2� trans. Frank Griffel. Der Islam 73

(1996): 1.

73 Ibid., 18.

74 Wahba az-Zuhayli, Usul al-Fiqh al-Islami, (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1998/1418) 1:490.

75 Reda, 2.

76 An-Nawawi, al-Minhaj, 9:358, #6535.

77 �Abdul-Majid ash-Sharnubi, Sharh al-Hikam al-�Ata�iyya, (Damascus: Dar Ibn Kathir, 1992/1413) 38.

Imam Zaid Shakir

03.23.05

 

Bi ismillahir rahmanir raheem

Assalamu alaikum

An Examination of the Issue of Female Prayer

Leadership

By Imam Zaid Shakir

Introduction

Imam al-Jurjani mentions that fitnah is �that which clarifies the state of a person,

be that good or evil.�2 It is also defined as �Strife breaking out among various peoples.�3

In both of these meanings the controversy surrounding the �historic� female-led Jumu�ah prayer is a Fitnah for many Muslims in this country. This is undeniable when we see the deep divisions, bitter contestation, and outright enmity it is creating in the ranks of the believers. This is so when we see some people�s very faith shaken. This is so when we see spiteful accusations hurled by some Muslims at others. This is so when we see non-Muslims of nefarious intent seeking to exploit the situation to create confusion among the general public and the Muslims as to what Islam is, and who its authoritative voices are.

As I consider this a fitnah, the first thing I wish to say about this matter is that we should all stop for a moment and take time to ask God to protect us. We should ask God that He protects the fledgling Muslim community of this land. We should ask that He bless us to have wisdom equal to the challenges He has placed before. We should ask Him that He grants us all the strength to continue working for Islam in our various capacities. We should ask Him to help us to resist the many and increasingly sophisticated efforts to divide us. Having said that, I wish to clarify my position concerning this matter. What I write below is based on the Sunni legal and linguistic tradition, as it has been historically understood. This is the tradition of the Islamic orthodoxy, which remains to this day, the only religious orthodoxy, which has not been marginalized to the fringes of the faith community it represents.

My comments will be structured around specific evidences mentioned by Nevin Reda, in an article entitled, �What Would the Prophet Do? The Islamic Basis for Female-Led Prayer.�4 Of the evidences ushered by Reda, only one is substantive to the issue at hand. Another is ancillary. The rest are considerations that would affect how rulings relating to gender issues might be implemented. However, they have no real weight in establishing a particular ruling in the divine law.

Part 1 The Hadith of Umm Waraqa

As for her lone substantive evidence, it is the following: The Prophet (peace be upon him) commanded Umm Waraqah, a woman who had collected the Qur�an, to lead the people of her area in prayer. She had her own mu�adhdhin [person who performs the call to prayers].5 This narration, found in the compilations of Abu Dawud,6 ad-Daraqutni,7 al- Bayhaqi,8 al-Hakim,9 the Tabaqat of Ibn Sa�d,10 and other sources, is questioned by some scholars of hadith (prophetic tradition) because of two narrators in its chain of transmission.11 The first is al-Walid b. �Abdullah b. Jumay�12. Imam adh-Dhahabi mentions in al-Mizan that although ibn Ma�in, Imam Ahmad, and Abu Hatim considered him an acceptable narrator, others refused to accept his narrations, among them Ibn Hibban. Imam al-Hakim also questioned his probity.13 Ibn Hajar al-�Asqalani mentions that al�Aqili said there was inconsistency in his narrations.14

Although a case can be made for accepting the narrations of al-Walid, based on those who do affirm his probity, the state of another narrator in the chain of this hadith, �Abd ar-Rahman b. Khallad, is Majhul al-Hal (unknown).15 Al-Walid also relates this tradition from his grandmother. Imam ad-Daraqutni mentions that her state is also unknown.16 In the opinion of the overwhelming majority of scholars, the existence of a narrator whose state is unknown would make the transmission conveyed by that chain,weak.17

This combination of two potentially weak narrators makes it questionable to use the tradition of Umm Waraqa as the basis for establishing any rulings in the Divine law. While the questionable nature of this hadith does not undermine the widespread acceptance it has received from the earlier scholars, it does make it difficult to use as the primary evidence for a major precept of the religion, which is the case in this discussion. Were we to assume that the tradition is sound, it would still be difficult to use it as the basis for establishing the permissibility of a woman leading a public, mixed-gender congregational prayer, for reasons we shall now mention, if God so wills.

First of all, the Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him, advised Umm Waraqa to stay in her house �Qarri fi Baytiki. This command is of import, as it creates two possible scenarios for the prayer she led. Either she remained in her house to lead the congregation, or she left her house to lead it in a mosque at an outside location. If she left her house to lead the prayer, she would have been acting contrary to the order of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him. There is no transmitted evidence that the prayer took place outside of her home. Hence, we can conclude that her mosque was in her house.

Her establishing the prayer in a mosque located in her home would be consistent with numerous narrations where the Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him, permitted various companions to establish mosques in their homes.18 Imam al-Bukhari mentions that al-Bara� b. �Azib led congregational prayers in the mosque in his house � Salla al-Bara� Ibn �Azib fi masjidihi fi darihi jama�atan.19 Imam al-Bukhari also mentions a hadith where the Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him, went to the house of a blind companion, �Itban b. Malik, to establish a mosque there.20 Ibn Majah produces several narrations of this event.21 In fact, the Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him, ordered the generality of believers to establish mosques in their homes. �Aisha relates, �The Messenger of God ordered that mosques be established in the homes

[Dur plural of Dar], and that they be cleaned and perfumed.�22

Based on these and other relevant narrations, we can safely conclude that Umm Waraqa had a mosque in her house, and that the prayer she led was not in a public place outside of her home. A more controversial point is who was being led in the prayer? Here there are three possibilities: her mu�adhdhin (prayer caller) and two servants; the women from the neighborhood surrounding her home; the women of her house. As for the first possibility, the wording of the hadith, along with the narrations we quoted above, would lead one to believe that the residents of her house were being led in the prayer. All of those narrations use Dar to refer to house.

This would support the interpretation of Dar as �house� as opposed to �area.� This interpretation is also consistent with the literal meaning of the term Dar. Al-Fayruzabadi, Ibn Mandhur, and Raghib al-Isfahani all define Dar as a walled structure encompassing a building and a courtyard.23 An interpretative principle relates that �the origin in expressions is their literal meaning, there is no resorting to derived meanings without a decisive proof.�24 Hence, the term Ahla Dariha would be best translated �the people of her house.�

Based on what has been narrated that would apparently include a male and female servant, along with the old man who was appointed by the Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him, to serve as her mu�adhdhin (caller to prayer).25 Reda rejects this interpretation, arguing that three people would not need a mu�adhdhin.26 This is not the case. Those scholars who consider the Adhan (prayer call) a right associated with the obligatory prayer, or a right associated with the congregation, hold it to be Sunna (highly desirable in deference to the prophetic practice) to issue the call for any congregation assembled to undertake the five obligatory prayers.27

The size of the congregation in this regard is irrelevant. According to a hadith mentioned by al-Bukhari and others, even a person who is praying alone in an isolated area should make the call to prayer.28 Hence,Reda�s conclusion is not sound.

On the basis of this interpretation, it is related that Imams al-Muzani, at-Tabari, Abu Thawr, and Dawud Adh-Dhahiri allowed for females to lead men in prayer.29 Some modern scholars use this interpretation to allow for females to lead men in prayer in the confine of their homes, if the males lack the qualifications to lead the prayer.30 The relevant point here is that the prayer was a private matter, conducted in the confines of Umm Waraqa�s home, limited to the inhabitants of her house.

Were one to reject this first line of reasoning, a second possibility is that the people being led in prayer came from the area surrounding Umm Waraqa�s home. This is the interpretation preferred by Reda. It has a basis in narrations from the Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him. In the hadith of �Itban b. Malik, it is related that Ahli�d-Dar used to gather there �fathaba fi�l-bayt Rijalun min ahli�d-Dar. Ibn Hajar mentions in his commentary on this hadith that Ahli�d-Dar refers to the people of the neighborhood �al-Mahallah.31

Based on this understanding, it is not unreasonable to interpret Ahla Dariha, in the hadith of Umm Waraqa, as the people of her �area,� as Reda does. However, we are not left to guess as to who those people are. Imam ad-Daraqutni�s narration of this hadith mentions that Umm Waraqa was ordered to lead her women in prayer �wa ta�umma Nisa�aha.32 Hence, if the people praying with Umm Waraqa were from the surrounding area, they were all women, as Imam ad-Daraqutni�s version of the hadith makes clear.

Based on this second line of reasoning, we have to accept that they were women, in accords with an interpretive principle, �There is no room for speculation when transmitted evidence exists.�33 Here the text specifically states, �her women.� Ad- Daraqutni�s version would clarify a potentially vague expression in the other versions.

A third possibility, also based on joining between the majority narration and ad Daraqutni�s version of the hadith, would lead us to understand that the people of Umm Waraqa�s house were all women. Hence, Ahla Dariha (the people of her house) being led in prayer were women. There is no transmitted evidence to the contrary, as the opinion that Ahla Dariha were the two servants and the mu�adhdhin, mentioned above, is an assumption. In al-Mughni, Ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi mentions the incumbency of accepting this third interpretation.34 God knows best.

This latter understanding that Umm Waraqa only led women in prayer is strengthened by two ancillary evidences:

1)     The numerous narrations mentioning that �Aisha, Umm Salama, and other female Companions led all women congregations;35

2)     and the fact that when the Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him, established a  mosque in the house of �Itban b. Malik, the congregation was all male �Rijalun (men) min ahli�d-Dar. It would therefore make perfect sense for the Prophet to establish an all female congregation elsewhere.

Summary and Rulings

Based on the hadith of Umm Waraqa, its possible interpretations, and the other

ahadith that mention women leading the prayer during the prophetic epoch, the Sunni jurists have deduced the following rulings:

1. The Shafi�i and Hanbali schools allow for a woman to lead other women in prayer without any restrictions. She can lead such prayers in the mosque or other places. The Hanafis permit a woman to lead other women in prayer. However, they hold it to be disliked.36 All three of these schools stipulate that the woman leading the prayer should stand in the middle of the front row, without being in front of the women praying along with her. This is based on the description of the prayer led by �Aisha and Umm Salama. The Malikis hold that a woman cannot lead other women in the prayer.37

2. Of the three Sunni schools that hold it permissible for a woman to lead other women in prayer, none of them hold it permissible to lead men. Although there is a minority opinion in the Hanbali school which permits a woman to lead men in Tarawih, if certain conditions prevail, providing she stands behind them.38

3. Imam an-Nawawi mentions the following ruling in the Majmu�, �If a woman leads a man or men in prayer, the prayer of the men is invalid. As for her prayer, and the prayer of the women praying with her, it is sound.�39 As for Jumu�ah, he mentions the following, ��if a woman leads men in the Jumu�ah prayer, there are two rulings [concerning her prayer]. They have been mentioned by al-Qadi Abu Tayyib in his Ta�liq, the preponderant opinion is that her prayer is invalid, the second is that it is lawfully begun as the noon prayer.�40

4. Some modern scholars hold it permissible for a woman to lead men in prayer within the confines of her house, if there are no men qualified to lead the prayer.41

5. Imams Abu Thawr, Dawud adh-Dhahiri, and at-Tabari, whose legal schools have been defunct for centuries, are related to have held it permissible for a woman to lead men in prayer. This opinion is also related from Imam Muzani, one of the principal narrators of the Shafi�i school. We will examine this issue in greater detail, as it serves as one of the evidences offered by Reda for the validity of unrestricted female prayer leadership.

Edited by rami