Can my son lead me in salat?
Assalam O Alaikum,
My husband is currently away from the home. My son is fifteen and knows his salats. Is it permissible for him to lead me and my other son in salat, or since I know more than him, should I still be leading the salat?
- Najahdeen
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Salamualaikum,
A woman can not lead men in prayer. But she can lead a group of women. A man can lead both men and women.
Your son can lead you in prayer, but I am not sure about the Saff (row) or where you should stand. Because, women's saff is supposed to be starting from the end. The best row is the last row for women, unlike men, which is the first row. When I was 15, I used to lead my father, my sister and mother. Here, my father stood beside me, and my mother stood with my sister behind us.
But some points should be kept in mind:
Ibn 'Abbas, Ibn 'Umar and 'Aishah report that the Prophet (saws) said, "Allah does not accept the prayer of an adult woman unless she is wearing a ‘jilbaab’ (khimar, hijab, head-cover)." Related by Bukhari and Muslim.
Sahl ibn Sa'd as Sa'di relates that the Prophet (saws) said: "If someone is faced with something during the salah, he should say 'Subhanallah.' Clapping is for the women and saying ‘Subhanallah’ is for the men." Related by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, and an-Nasa'i.
Muslim (658) narrated from Anas
ibn Maalik that he prayed behind the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and with him was his grandmother and an orphan. He said: The orphan and I stood in a row behind him, and the old woman stood behind us.
If a woman should stand on her own behind the rows, and not stand in the same row as the men, how can she stand in front of them and lead them in prayer? It says in ‘Awn al-Ma’bood: This indicates that it is not permissible for a woman to lead men in prayer, because if she is not allowed to stand in the same row as them, it is less likely that she should be allowed to stand in front of them.
(islamqa)
So, if you are alone praying with your son, stand behind him and not nest to him. If you have another son, make him stand on the right side of your son and you stand behind (if you have a daughter, she can stand with you).
And Allah Knows Best
Wassalamualaikum
Muhammad Waseem
IslamicAnswers.com Editor
women can not lead women in salah .... if there is any such evidence in history then please share
Source:
http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/index.php?page=showfatwa&Option=FatwaId&Id=82591
Salaams,
I understand that you may have "led" your sons in prayer in effort to teach them how to make their salat. However, this is not the same type of leading that an imam will do when leading a congregation. At this point, your older son is 15, has reached pubescence, and already knows how to pray. He should be making his salats on his own, unless there are other adult males around. In that case, he should either lead the salat himself or follow another male imam.
I don't know how old your younger son is, or how much he knows about praying that requires you to continue teaching him or not. I would say if he is close to the age of pubescence, he can start practicing praying with his older brother. If he too is over the age of pubescence, he should certainly be doing this.
As for you and your salat, you may follow your son if you wish. It doesn't matter if you "know more than him", as long as he knows and completes all the obligatory aspects of the salat. However, as the imam he does carry the responsibility to perform the salat with a high level of taqwa, since he is leading congregants. It may be that this responsibility is still one he should grow into when he's ready. You always have the options of making your salat on your own, alone, if you want.
-Amy
IslamicAnswers.com Editor
What if the prayer for husband and wife? Can they stand for prayer togather or wife should be behind husband?
Salaams,
The wife should pray behind the husband. There is no situation or relation where an adult female would pray standing besides or in front of an adult male.
-Amy
IslamicAnswers.com Editor
The Sunnah is that the woman should stand behind the Imaam in prayer even if it is her husband. She should not stand to his right or left side, and this is agreed upon among the scholars of the four schools. The evidence about this is the narration of Al-Bukhaari and Muslim that the Prophet led the prayer with Anas Ibn Maalik and his mother Um Saleem . Anas said: 'I and an orphan stood behind the Prophet and the lady (my mother) stood behind us.' Um Saleem was the mother of Anas, yet she did not stand next to him (by his side) during prayer, rather she stood behind him. So this is an evidence that a woman should not stand next to a man in prayer.
Allaah knows best.