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Women as Imam The word 'imam' as used in the Qurân means
a source of guidance (e.g. Qurân 2:124). The meaning is not limited only
to prayer. Thus, the leader should guide the people along the path of
Islam. In other words, the role of the leader is to follow the teachings
of Islam and to act as a role model. Leading prayer is not a necessary criterion
for leadership, although it may be symbolically desirable. The
leader himself or herself need not actually lead prayer. The leader
can delegate this function to another. Prophet Muhammad, on two occasions,
assigned Ibn Umm Maktum to lead prayer in Medina. On more than one
occasion Muadh would pray isha with the Prophet and when he was finished
he would return to his people and, with the Prophet’s permission, he
would lead them in prayer. Thus, the assumption that the leader must
actually lead the prayer is not necessarily valid. Several ahâdîth set forth the criteria for
leading prayer: an ability to read the Qurân, knowledge of the Qurân,
knowledge of the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, and being accepted by the
congregation. The following hadith, related by Ahmad and Muslim and
reported by Ibn Masud, states that the Prophet said: "The imam of a
people should be the one who is the most versed in the Qurân. If they are
equal in their recital, then the one who is most knowledgeable of the
sunnah. If they are equal in the sunnah, then it is the one who migrated
first. If they are equal in that, then it is the eldest. And one should
not lead prayer in another’s house without permission." As-Sayyid Sabiq, a renowned Islamic scholar
from al-Azhar, states that the following people are prohibited from
leading prayer: someone with a legitimate excuse not to pray and an
incapacitated person. He further states that the following people are
discouraged from leading prayer: an evildoer and someone who changes the
religion. According to Ibn Rushd, Imam al-Shafii
believed that a woman could lead other women in prayer; however, both al-Tabari
and Abu Thawr believed that a woman could lead both men and women in
prayer. Umm Waraqa bint
Abdallah, an Ansari woman who was well versed in the Qurân, was
instructed by Prophet Muhammad to lead ahl dariha (ahl dariha means the
people of her home where 'dar' means home and can refer to one’s
residence, neighborhood, or village), which consisted of
both men and women, in prayer. The "people of Umm Waraqa’s
home" were so numerous that Prophet Muhammad appointed a muezzin for
her. Umm Waraqa was one of the few to hand down the Qurân before it
was written. Umm Waraqa wished to be known as a martyr so she asked
Prophet Muhammad to allow her to participate in the Battle of Badr (624
A.D./ 2 A.H.) so that she could take care of the wounded; from that time
on Prophet Muhammad referred to her as "the female
martyr." In 699 A.D. (77 A.H.) a woman named Ghazala
led her male warriors in prayer in Kufa after having controlled the city
for a day. Not only did she lead Muslim men in prayer, she recited
the two longest chapters in the Qurân during that prayer. Thus, although
the practice of women leading prayer is not commonly accepted, one cannot
simply conclude that it is prohibited without first conducting honest and
unbiased research.
excerpt from Muslim Women's League - USA |