ABSTRACT
Sharḥ al- Talqīn (2:670-671): It is invalid for women to lead prayers according to us and according to Abū Ḥanīfah. They may lead neither men nor women. Some of our associates have quoted from al-Ṭabarī, Dāwūd [al-Ẓāhirī] and Abū Thawr the permissibility of her leading men and women in prayer. I have seen where others have conveyed from Abū Thawr, al-Muzanī and al-Ṭabarī that they permit her to lead men in Tarāwīḥ if she is the only literate person among them, and she should stand behind the men. Al-Shāfiʿī permits her to lead women in prayer. Ibn Ayman relates this from Mālik. Our associates have argued for the categorical prohibition [of women leading prayers] with the Prophet’s statement: ‘The best ranks for women are the last ones and the worst are the first ones.’ [They also argue] that her voice is shameful (ʿawrah), and also by making an analogy on the [ruling of] supreme [political] leadership. The argument for permissibility [of a woman leading prayer] is by way of analogy on the [ruling of a] slave [leading prayer]. This is countered with [the argument] that the deficiency of being female, when it comes to prayer leadership, is more certain and more severe. The woman is attributed with a deficiency of intellect and religion, while a slave is not attributed with these qualities. It has been disputed whether [the Prophet’s] statement ‘The most well-versed among the people (qawm) should lead them in prayer’ includes women. The reason for the dispute is the question of whether the word ‘people’ (qawm) applies only to men or to men and women both. Our associates argue that [its meaning] is restricted to men on the basis that God says: ‘O you who believe, let not a people (qawm) ridicule another people (qawm), perhaps they might be
better than them. Nor let women [ridicule] other women, perhaps they might be better than them.’47 [The verse] contrasts ‘people’ (qawm) with ‘people’ (qawm) and ‘women’ with ‘women’. Had women been included [in the meaning of the word] ‘people’ (qawm), this method of contrast would not have been sound. [The poet] Zuhayr says:
I do not know, but I will quite soon come to know Are they, the tribe of Ḥuṣn, a people (qawm), or are they women.
