Fariq Naik – Acts of Worship are the Same for Both Sexes, unless Proven Otherwise

The basic ruling in Islam as far

as

as far as acts of worship are concerned,

as far as Islamic rulings are concerned,

generally, it is the same for a man

and for a woman.

Unless there is evidence which proves otherwise.

For example,

everyone needs to offer salafat times and if

it is compulsory

And the women,

they are exempted from offering salah when they

are in the state of menses. But the

men, they have to offer salah in all

situations.

The women, they are exempted when they are

in the state of

menses or when a woman is menstruating. She's

exempted from offering salah and she does not

have to make up for the salah that

she has missed.

The same is the case with fasting.

All men and women need to fast in

the month of Ramadan.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the glorious

Quran, Surat Al Baqarah, chapter number 2, verse

number 183.

Oh, you who believe fasting has been prescribed

for you as it was prescribed to those

before you so that you may attain self

restraint.

So fasting is obligatory upon the men and

the women.

But if an individual is traveling whether it

be a man or a woman, they are

exempted

from fasting.

And in addition, a woman is exempted from

fasting when she is menstruating

or she is in the state of menses.

But she needs to make up for the

missed fast that she has missed during the

month of Ramadan later on. So the basic

ruling for men and women in Islam

and as far as Ibadah is concerned, they

are the same for the man and for

the woman unless there is evidence

which proves otherwise.

As far as the methodology

and the way of offering salah is concerned,

it is almost the same for the man

and for the woman.

Certain things that are related to the salah,

they

made they differ

between the man and the woman, and these

are minor differences.

The first

is regarding the aura. For the aura, we

know that for the man, it is from

the navel to the knee. So when a

man is offering salah, he needs to cover

his aura that is from the navel to

the knee. Certain scholars, they say that even

the shoulders need to be covered of a

man when he's offering salah. So this is

the basic

requirement as far as covering the body is

concerned for the man during

salah or when he's offering salah.

The woman, her aura, it is a complete

body, should be covered. The only parts that

can be seen are the face and hands

up to the wrist. And a woman, when

she's offering salah, she needs to cover her

complete body. The only part that can be

seen, it is the face. And in fact,

she needs to uncover her face when she's

offering salah.

So this is, as far as the aura

is concerned, the woman, she needs to cover

her complete body and her face needs to

be uncovered when she's offering salah.

And the man, he needs to cover his

aura that is from the navel to the

knee. Certain scholars say that the shoulders need

to be covered as well when a man

is offering his salah. This is regarding the

aura. What we need to cover when we're

offering salah.

Besides this, as far as the congregational

salah is concerned, there are certain differences between

the man and the woman.

And Imam Abu Nawi, Rahimahullah, he has mentioned

regarding these differences.

For a man, it is compulsory

that he offers the 5 daily prayer in

congregation in the Masjid. For the woman, it

is not compulsory for her to offer the

5 daily prayer in congregation in the Masjid.

But if she wishes, she may offer the

5 daily prayer in congregation in the Masjid

if there is a proper designated

area for the sisters or for the woman.

When

a man is leading other men in prayer,

so the imam, he stands in front of

the other people who is leading in prayer.

He stands separately ahead of all the others

who is leading in prayer.

When a woman

is leading the other woman in prayer,

she stands along with the other woman. She

stands in the center of the first row.

And a woman can only lead a woman

in prayer.

A woman cannot lead men in prayer. A

man can lead, but natural men, as well

as other women in prayer. But natural, there

needs to be proper segregation.

And the rules need to be different as

well.

A woman,

before she leads other women in prayer, she

need not give the adaan. That is a

call to prayer.

In addition,

when a woman

she is leading

other women in prayer,

this she can lead other women in prayer,

but at the same time,

she can only lead woman

in the congregation prayer. She cannot lead men.

And if a man is leading,

for example, his wife in prayer, so they

do not stand in the same row. But

the woman,

that is the wife stands behind the husband

separately.

So this is very important. And as far

as the rows for the men are concerned,

the best row, it is the first row

for the men. For the woman, the best

row, it is the back rows.

So these are few differences

as far as things that are related to

salah are concerned, and these are

as far as congregational

salah, it is concerned.

There is an opinion

that is mentioned by Imam al Nawawi. He

said that, Imam al Shaikh and he said

that the woman when she's offering her salah,

she should keep her

body parts close to her body, her hands

close to her body, and her other body

parts close to her body.

This is an opinion of

as Imam al Nawawi has rightly said regarding

Imam al Shafi'i.

So the woman she should keep her body

parts close to herself.

This is more modest for her.

But, basically, as I mentioned earlier,

the methodology and the way of offerings the

salah, it is almost the same for the

man and the woman. The other things that

are related to salah. And

as far as the congregational salah is concerned,

there are minor differences between

the salah of the woman and the salah

of the men. So I hope that answers

your question.