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What is better and more rewarding for women in congregational prayer at the Grand Mosque (Masjid al-Haram): praying in the front rows or the back rows, given that there is a barrier between them and the men's rows?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It is authentically established in the sound Hadith that the best of men's rows is the first, and the worst is the last, and the best of women's rows is the last, and the worst is the first. Scholars have clarified that the intention behind women's rows here is for those who pray alongside men, so their last rows were better due to their distance from men. However, if women pray in a place separate from men, then the best of their rows is the first, and the worst is the last, just like men. What is meant by "the worst of rows" is that which yields less reward and is further from what the Sacred Law requires.

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

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