ABSTRACT
Sharḥ al- Talqīn (2:671): It is argued, with a narration we regard as strange, that she is permitted to lead only women in prayer. This is what is narrated that he [the Prophet] used to visit Umm Waraqah in her house and he appointed for her a prayer caller to call the prayer for her and ordered her to lead the people of her locality (dār) in prayer. In the narration of al-Dāraquṭnī [it reads]: ‘the women from the people of her locality’. Some of the our later associates have said that this ḥadīth is not among those that must be relied upon. [Those who support women leading other women in prayer] mention, along with this strange narration, that ʿĀ’ishah used to lead women in prayer. The response to this – assuming it is authentically established – is to interpret it as being for the purpose of instruction, or that it had been [allowed] and then was abrogated. If a woman leads prayer, whoever prays [following] behind her must repeat their prayers, even if the time [for that prayer] has elapsed.
