Difference between Men and Woman Prayer There is no difference between a woman’s prayer and a man’s prayer. There is no evidence for what some of the jurists have mentioned about the differences. , which is the words of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): “Pray as you have seen me praying,” includes everyone, and Islamic rulings apply to both men and women, unless there is evidence to indicate that some ruling is specific to one gender and not the other. The Sunnah is for a woman to pray as a man prays in terms of bowing, prostration and recitation. Putting the hands on the chest is what is best, and the same applies to putting the hands on the knees when bowing, and putting them on the ground when prostrating in line with the shoulders or in line with the ears, and the same applies to making the back straight when bowing, and the same applies to what is to be said when bowing and prostrating, after rising from bowing and after rising from the first prostration. In all of that, women should do the same as men, in accordance with the words of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): “Pray as you have seen me praying.” Narrated by al-Bukhari in as-Sahih. - With regard to the iqamah and adhan, they are something separate from the prayer. The iqamah and adhan are for men only, as is stated in the religious texts. It is men who give the iqamah and adhan; the case of women, there is no iqamah and no adhan. With regard to reciting out loud, a woman may recite out loud in Fajr, Maghrib and ‘Isha’. In Fajr she may recite out loud in both rak‘ahs; in Maghrib she may recite out loud in the first two rak‘ahs; and in ‘Isha’ she may recite out loud in the first two rak‘ahs, just as men may do. End quote. Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Baz (may Allah have mercy on him). Fatawa Nur ‘ala ad-Darb (2/799).
The general principle is that women are equal to men in all religious rulings, because of the hadeeth "Women are the twin halves of men" (Reported by Imaam Ahmad and classified as saheeh in Saheeh al-Jaami’ 1983), except when there is evidence (daleel) of a specific ruling which applies only to women. One of the cases in which the scholars mention specific rules for women is prayer, where there are differences as follows: 1. Women do not have to give adhaan or iqaamah, because adhaan requires raising the voice, which women are not permitted to do. Ibn Qudaamah, may Allaah have mercy on him, said: "We know of no difference between the scholars (on this point)." (Al-Mughni ma’a al-Sharh al-Kabeer, 1/438). -All of the woman’s body is ‘awrah and must be covered during prayer, except for her face, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "No prayer will be accepted from an adult woman unless she wears a khimaar (head-cover). (Reported by the five Muhadditheen) There is some dispute as to whether her heels and feet should be covered. The author of al-Mughni (2/328) said: "As for the rest of the free woman’s body, it must be covered during prayer. If any part becomes uncovered, it renders her prayer invalid, except if only a little bit is uncovered. Maalik, al-Oozaa’i and al-Shaafi’i said the same. 2. The woman should keep her limbs close to her body during rukoo’ and sujood, and not spread them out, because this is more modest and covering. (Al-Mughni 2/258). Al-Nawawi said: "Al-Shaafi’i said, in al-Mukhtasar: there is no difference between men and women in prayer, except that women should keep the parts of their bodies close to one another, and they should make their stomachs touch their thighs during sujood. This is more covering and preferable, in rukoo’ and the rest of the prayer too." (See al-Majmoo’ 3/429). 3. It is preferable for women to pray in congregation, led by one of their number, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told Umm Waraqah to lead the women of her household in prayer. There is some difference among scholars on this matter. (See al-Mughni, 2/202 and al-Majmoo’ al-Nawawi, 4/84-85). The woman leading the prayer should read aloud as long as no non-mahram man can hear her. 4. It is permissible for women to go out and pray in the mosque with men, although their prayer at home is better for them, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Do not prevent the women from going out to the mosques, even though their homes are better for them." 5. Imaam al-Nawawi, may Allaah have mercy on him, said (al-Majmoo’ 3/455): "Women differ from men in congregational prayer in a number of ways: (a) Congregational prayer is not required of them in the same way as it is of men. (b) The imam of a group of women stands in the middle of the (first) row. (c )(If one woman and one man are praying), she should stand behind him, not next to him. (d) If women are praying in rows behind men, the back rows are better for them than the front rows.
What we can learn from the above is that women and men are forbidden to mix. Allaah is our Helper and Support.