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What is the ruling on a woman praying in the mosque with men without a designated prayer area for her? Where should she stand, and does the ruling on solitary prayer apply to her? What is the evidence for separating women's prayer areas from men's, despite the hadith, "The best rows for women are the last, and the worst are the first"? Why did the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, call the church a "mosque" in the hadith of Umm Habibah and Umm Salamah? Is it permissible to bury an unrelated man with an unrelated woman out of necessity?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If a woman prays in congregation with men, she stands behind them alone, based on the hadith of Anas, may Allah be pleased with him. This does not contradict the principle that the best rows for women are the last, as this refers to women who pray with men. However, if they pray alone, then the best of their rows are the first. Straightening the rows is required for everyone. The purpose of this is to preserve the solemnity of the prayer and prevent mixing between men and women. The warning against taking the graves of prophets and righteous people as mosques is to avoid falling into shirk (polytheism) and innovations. As for burying more than one person in a single grave, it is not permissible except in cases of necessity.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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