How women pray, the Hanafi differences
A woman's prayer has the same words and the same rakahs as a man's. In the Hanafi school a few positions differ. Step through each one.
Cover the whole body except the face, the hands and the feet, with clothing that is not see-through. The hair, neck, arms and ankles must stay covered throughout. Face the qibla and make your intention.
Raise your hands, inside your sleeves or scarf if you like, until the fingertips are level with the shoulders, and say the takbir. Men raise them to the ears.
اللّٰهُ أَكْبَرُ
Allāhu akbar
Allah is the Greatest.
Place the right hand over the left on the chest, without gripping the wrist. Men fold below the navel. Then say the thana quietly.
سُبْحَانَكَ اللّٰهُمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ وَتَبَارَكَ اسْمُكَ وَتَعَالٰى جَدُّكَ وَلَا إِلٰهَ غَيْرُكَ
Subḥānakallāhumma wa biḥamdika wa tabārakasmuka wa taʿālā jadduka wa lā ilāha ghayruk
Glory be to You, O Allah, and praise. Blessed is Your name, exalted is Your majesty, and there is no god but You.
Sunan Abi Dawud and Jami at-Tirmidhi, from Aishah and Abu Said al-Khudri.
A woman recites quietly in every prayer, including Fajr, Maghrib and Isha, so that only she hears herself. Recite Al-Fatiha and a surah.
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ﴿١﴾ ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ ﴿٢﴾ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ﴿٣﴾ مَٰلِكِ يَوْمِ ٱلدِّينِ ﴿٤﴾ إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ ﴿٥﴾ ٱهْدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٰطَ ٱلْمُسْتَقِيمَ ﴿٦﴾ صِرَٰطَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ ٱلْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا ٱلضَّآلِّينَ ﴿٧﴾
Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem Alhamdu lillaahi Rabbil 'aalameen Ar-Rahmaanir-Raheem Maaliki Yawmid-Deen Iyyaaka na'budu wa Iyyaaka nasta'een Ihdinas-Siraatal-Mustaqeem Siraatal-lazeena an'amta 'alaihim ghayril-maghdoobi 'alaihim wa lad-daaalleen
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. [All] praise is [due] to Allah, Lord of the worlds - The Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful, Sovereign of the Day of Recompense. It is You we worship and You we ask for help. Guide us to the straight path - The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have evoked [Your] anger or of those who are astray.
Quran 1:1-7 (Surah Al-Fatiha), translation by Sahih International.
Bend only enough for the hands to reach the knees. Keep the fingers together, rest the hands on the knees without gripping, keep the knees slightly bent and the arms close to the sides. Men bend fully with the back level.
سُبْحَانَ رَبِّيَ الْعَظِيْمِ
Subḥāna rabbiyal-ʿaẓīm (3 times)
Glory be to my Lord, the Magnificent.
Sahih Muslim 772, from Hudhayfah.
Stand up straight, saying the words of rising, as men do.
سَمِعَ اللّٰهُ لِمَنْ حَمِدَهُ رَبَّنَا لَكَ الْحَمْدُ
Samiʿallāhu liman ḥamidah. Rabbanā lakal-ḥamd
Allah hears the one who praises Him. Our Lord, to You belongs all praise.
Sahih al-Bukhari 796.
Go down gently, knees first. Keep the stomach close to the thighs, the arms close to the sides, and the forearms resting on the ground. Men keep the stomach off the thighs and the forearms raised.
سُبْحَانَ رَبِّيَ الْأَعْلٰى
Subḥāna rabbiyal-aʿlā (3 times)
Glory be to my Lord, the Most High.
Sahih Muslim 772, from Hudhayfah.
Between the sajdahs and in the tashahhud, sit on the left hip with both feet coming out to the right side, and the hands on the thighs with the fingers together. Men sit on the left foot with the right foot upright.
اَلتَّحِيَّاتُ لِلّٰهِ وَالصَّلَوَاتُ وَالطَّيِّبَاتُ، اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكَ أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ وَرَحْمَةُ اللّٰهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ، اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْنَا وَعَلٰى عِبَادِ اللّٰهِ الصّٰلِحِيْنَ، أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَّا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللّٰهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُوْلُهُ
At-taḥiyyātu lillāhi waṣ-ṣalawātu waṭ-ṭayyibāt. As-salāmu ʿalayka ayyuhan-nabiyyu wa raḥmatullāhi wa barakātuh. As-salāmu ʿalaynā wa ʿalā ʿibādillāhiṣ-ṣāliḥīn. Ashhadu al lā ilāha illallāhu wa ashhadu anna Muḥammadan ʿabduhū wa rasūluh
All greetings, prayers and good things are for Allah. Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Peace be upon us and upon the righteous servants of Allah. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.
The tashahhud of Ibn Masud: Sahih al-Bukhari 831; Sahih Muslim 402.
Turn to the right and the left with the salam, as men do. If something happens during the prayer and you need to alert the imam, clap the back of one hand with the palm of the other rather than say Subhanallah.
اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللّٰهِ
As-salāmu ʿalaykum wa raḥmatullāh
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.
Sunan Abi Dawud and Jami at-Tirmidhi, from Ibn Masud.
- Words and rakahs
- The same as men's
- Postures
- More compact and covered (Hanafi)
- Recitation
- Always quiet
- Full prayer
- Step through every rakah
This is the Hanafi method. The guide below explains the evidence and the other madhhabs. Use the arrow keys to move between steps.
Guide
Women's salah, what differs and why
Women pray the same prayers, with the same words and the same number of rakahs, as men. In the Hanafi school a woman raises her hands to the shoulders, places them on the chest, bows a little in ruku, keeps her body close together in sajdah, and sits with both feet out to the right. Everything else is as in how to pray.
Men and women in the Hanafi school
| Position | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Raising the hands | To the ears | To the shoulders |
| Folding the hands | Below the navel, gripping the wrist | On the chest, right hand over left |
| Ruku | Back level, fingers spread on the knees | A slight bow, fingers together, knees a little bent |
| Arms | Away from the sides | Close to the sides |
| Sajdah | Stomach off the thighs, forearms raised | Stomach to the thighs, forearms on the ground |
| Sitting | On the left foot, right foot upright | On the left hip, both feet out to the right |
| Recitation | Aloud in Fajr, Maghrib and Isha (imam or alone) | Always quietly |
| Alerting the imam | Say Subhanallah | Clap lightly |
The differences rest on the principle that a woman's prayer should be as covered and compact as possible (satr). The evidence includes a mursal hadith in Abu Dawud's Marasil, from Yazid ibn Abi Habib, that the Prophet ﷺ passed by two women praying and told them to keep their bodies close to the ground in sajdah, because a woman is not like a man in this; reports in al-Bayhaqi; and the sayings of Ali, Ibn Abbas and Ibrahim al-Nakhai in the Musannaf of Ibn Abi Shaybah. These reports are mursal or come from the early generations, and the school reads them together with the principle of covering.1
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- A woman keeps her body close together in ruku and sajdah, does not raise her voice where non-mahram men can hear, and claps to alert the imam. Hand and sitting positions are the same as men's.
- Maliki
- Close to the Shafi'i view: a woman is more compact in ruku and sajdah; otherwise as men.
- Hanbali
- A woman keeps her body close together and may sit with both feet to the right, which Imam Ahmad is reported to have preferred.
- Some later scholars
- Scholars such as Ibn Baz and al-Albani held that women pray exactly as men, from the hadith "Pray as you have seen me pray" (Sahih al-Bukhari 631).
The awrah in prayer
In the Hanafi school a woman covers everything except the face, the hands up to the wrists and the feet. If a quarter of a part that must be covered, such as a quarter of the forearm or the hair, is uncovered for as long as it takes to say Subhanallah three times, the prayer is broken. A thin scarf through which the hair shows does not count as covering.
Where women pray
A woman may pray at home or in the masjid. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Do not prevent the female servants of Allah from the mosques of Allah,"2 and also said that a woman's prayer in her home is better for her.3 Women are not required to attend Jumuah or congregational prayer.
Prayer and menstruation
During menstruation and postnatal bleeding a woman does not pray, and she does not make those prayers up later. When the bleeding ends, she makes ghusl and prays the next prayer. If it ends with enough time left in a prayer's time to make ghusl and say the opening takbir, that prayer is owed. Fasts missed in Ramadan are made up.
- Abu Dawud, al-Marasil, from Yazid ibn Abi Habib; al-Bayhaqi, al-Sunan al-Kubra; Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah. Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar, Sifat al-Salah; al-Marghinani, al-Hidayah. The other madhhabs' positions are summarised from their standard manuals.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 900; Sahih Muslim 442.
- Sunan Abi Dawud 567 and 570.
The rulings on this page are pending review by the scholars on our team.
Questions
Good to know
Do women pray differently from men?
The words and rakahs are the same. In the Hanafi school some postures differ: hands to the shoulders, hands on the chest, a slight ruku, a compact sajdah and sitting with both feet to the right.
Where do women put their hands in salah?
In the Hanafi school, on the chest, the right hand over the left. Men fold them below the navel.
How do women sit in salah?
In the Hanafi school, on the left hip with both feet coming out to the right side, in every sitting.
Do women recite aloud in Fajr, Maghrib and Isha?
No. In the Hanafi school a woman always recites quietly, so that only she hears herself.
Can a woman pray with her feet uncovered?
Yes, in the relied-upon Hanafi view the feet are not part of the awrah in prayer. The face and hands may also be uncovered.
Can women lead other women in prayer?
The Hanafi school dislikes a congregation of women only. If they do pray together, the woman leading stands in the middle of the first row, not in front. The other schools allow it.