Blue Mosque, Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan by Françoise Foliot (CC BY-SA 4.0).

The right of women to participate in communal prayers is explicitly affirmed and encouraged within Islamic sources, particularly the Prophetic traditions. Historically, women actively participated in congregational prayers alongside the Prophet and his Companions, praying collectively under the same roof. Across the Sunni legal schools, there is a consensus that men are obliged, or at a minimum strongly encouraged, to perform their obligatory prayers congregationally in the mosque. By contrast, the issue of women’s attendance at mosques for congregational prayer has been the subject of juristic. divergence, with some scholars, often based on prevailing social and cultural circumstances, considering women’s participation less strongly recommended. The Taliban authorities prevent women from participating in any congregational prayer and claim that their position is based on the Sharia principles, particularly the Hanafi school of jurisprudence (madhhab), which is the predominant madhhab in Afghanistan and the one to which the Taliban officially adhere. This study argues that a close and systematic examination of the Taliban’s stance on preventing women from participating in communal prayers reveals a significant departure from both the mainstream positions of the Hanafi school and the foundational principles of the major Islamic legal theories. 

Women’s Participation in Communal Prayer before the Taliban

Before the return of the Taliban to power in August 2021, the participation of women in congregational prayers at mosques, particularly during the month of Ramadan and on Friday and Eid prayers, was a socially recognized and relatively common practice in major urban centers of Afghanistan, most notably Kabul. In some regions, such as the city of Herat in western Afghanistan, the tradition of women attending congregational prayers, particularly on Fridays, has been maintained for centuries. However, women’s participation in communal prayers has not been practiced in small cities and remote areas of Afghanistan, where more than 70% of the population resides. During the period of the Republic, urban mosque architecture in Kabul increasingly incorporated designated spaces for female worshippers, either on upper floors or in annexes adjacent to the main mosque structure. Women often accompanied their male family members or were part of groups of neighboring women, reflecting both their religious devotion and established social patterns.

However, with the Taliban’s return to power, this practice was officially banned. The Taliban authorities declared that women’s attendance at mosques was not allowed, claiming that their ban aligns with Islamic law and, specifically, with the Ḥanafi school of jurisprudence, which they consider the official legal system of the Islamic Emirate. Religious leaders (imams) were instructed to publicly communicate these directives, stressing that women’s participation in congregational prayer inside mosques was incompatible with what the authorities described as “authentic” Islamic legal principles.

The Concept of Worship in Islam

In Islamic legal tradition, ʿIbādāt (acts of worship) constitute the core ritual obligations incumbent upon every adult Muslim who possesses the requisite physical and financial capacity. These obligations primarily concern regulating the relationship between humans and God. In Islamic jurisprudential terminology, ʿibādah denotes any act whose performance, when accompanied by the requisite intention (niyyah), merits divine reward.

The canonical ʿibādāt encompass the five daily prayers (ṣalāh), fasting during the month of Ramadan (ṣawm), the payment of almsgiving (zakāh), and the pilgrimage to Mecca (ḥajj). While fasting and almsgiving are primarily individual in nature, prayer and pilgrimage embody distinct communal dimensions. The pilgrimage, however, is a conditional obligation, required only once in a lifetime for those who are financially and physically capable of undertaking the journey to Mecca. The primary focus here is the obligation of the five daily prayers, a religious duty imposed upon both Muslim men and women as a central element of daily worship. According to Islamic law, a boy and a girl, when they reach puberty (bulūgh), become legally responsible for fulfilling divine obligations, so besides other ritual obligations, they must pray five times a day. Women’s right to communal prayer is acknowledged in the primary sources of Islamic law. These sources include the Quran¹ Muslim jurists define the Quran as a book containing the speech of God revealed to the Prophet Muhammad in Arabic, recited in prayers (Salah), and transmitted to us by continuous testimony (tawatur). and the Sunnah, the normative legacy of the Prophet Mohammad. Generally speaking, there is no doubt that all jurisdictional schools of Sunni Islam maintain a congregational form of prayer as a highly recommended practice in Islam. However, the disagreement arises regarding women’s attendance in congregational prayer, which will be discussed in the following section. 

Women’s Right to Congregational Prayer in the Prophet Sunnah 

In Islamic tradition, numerous examples prove that the Prophetic teaching and practice directly support women’s right to participate in congregational prayers along with Muslim men. There are many narrations that the Prophet explicitly encouraged and instructed Muslim men not to prevent women of their households from attending communal prayers in the mosque. These narrations underscore the permissibility and legitimacy of women’s presence in places of worship. For instance, Prophet Muhammad said, “Do not prevent Allah’s female servants (Muslim women) from going to mosques.” It is a general rule that the prophet set for his followers to obey. In another tradition, the Prophet stated, “When women ask permission for going to the mosque, do not prevent them.” Aisha, the Prophet’s wife, said that women were praying early in the morning with the Prophet and other Muslims in the mosque, doing so quietly so that no one could recognize them because of the darkness. These narrations demonstrate that during the Prophet’s era, women enjoyed the freedom to attend congregational prayers alongside the Prophet and his male companions in the mosque without any restrictions. 

Furthermore, the household of the Prophet and other female companions served as prayer leaders (Imams) during congregational prayers. For instance, Aisha, one of the Prophet’s wives, led mandatory (Fard) congregational prayers for other women. In another narration, Umm Salama, another wife of the Prophet, led the ʿAṣr prayer for a group of women. More interestingly, Prophet Muhammad assigned a man as a public crier for prayers (muezzin) for Umm Waraqa, one of the female companions, and asked her to lead prayers for his family members. A famous Hadith scholar, Al-Nawawi, considered the above three hadiths authentic. 

Moreover, during the era of the Prophet’s Companions, women participated freely in the daily congregational prayers, even in instances where their male relatives expressed disapproval of their attendance. A notable example concerns the wife of the second Caliph, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, who regularly performed the ṣalāt al-fajr and ṣalāt al-ʿishāʾ in congregation at the mosque. When questioned about her practice, given her awareness that her husband, ʿUmar, disapproved of it and was known for his strong sense of ghayrah (protective jealousy or self-respect), she responded, “What prevents him from stopping me from this act?” The interlocutor then explained, “It is the statement of the Prophet: Do not prevent the female servants of Allah from going to the mosques.”     

Essentially, the fact that the Prophet repeatedly instructed others to allow women to attend mosques might indicate that it was not a well-established practice during the lifetime of the Prophet and his companions. In contrast, there is also a prophetic narration, which states that the better place for women to perform their prayers is within their homes. This report is frequently cited by those who oppose women’s presence in mosques. However, it must be noted, first, that the Prophet’s statement indicates preference (afḍaliyyah), not prohibition; he did not instruct women to refrain from attending the mosque. Second, similar narrations exist regarding men, wherein the Prophet announced that, “O people, pray in your homes, for the best prayer of a person is in his house, except for the prescribed obligatory prayer (Fard).” A more rigorous academic approach necessitates examining the subject not solely based on a single hadith but by considering multiple prophetic narrations from various perspectives and subsequently deriving legal principles from their collective evidence.

Women’s Right to Communal Prayer in Major Classical Sunni Schools

Taking all of these considerations into account, the issue of women attending congregational prayers in mosques has been subject to considerable debate among classical Muslim scholars. Since the Hanafi tradition is the dominant school of jurisprudence in Afghanistan and the Taliban authorities announced the Hanafi school’s doctrine as the law of the state, the Hanafi school doctrines are discussed in more detail here to examine whether the Taliban’s position towards women’s right to congregational prayer is aligned with the Hanafi doctrines or not.

In the Hanafi school, there are two main opinions regarding women’s participation in the congregational prayers. As for elderly women, there is no disagreement that they are permitted to go out and attend the Fajr, Maghrib, and ʿIshāʾ prayers. However, the jurists differed regarding Ẓuhr, ʿAṣr, and Jumuʿah Prayers. Abū Ḥanīfah, the founder of the Hanafi school that bears his name, said they are not permitted to go out for these. In contrast, Abū Yūsuf and Muhammad al-Shaiban, the co-founders of the school alongside Abu Hanifah, held that it is allowed to attend all communal prayers because their presence does not lead to temptation (fitna). In contrast, Imam Abu Hanifa stated that during the times of  Zuhr and ʿAṣr, dissolute people are out, and there is a possibility of fitna. Therefore, women should stay home. However, in the evening, dissolute people are not out because they eat dinner, and in the early morning, they sleep. Thus, it is safe for women to go to mosques. Regarding young women (shaab),²The term “shaab” refers to young women and, in the juristic context, is commonly understood to denote unmarried women of youthful age who, by virtue of their attractiveness, were considered more susceptible to fitna. the Hanafi jurist believes it to be undesirable/discouraged, but not sinful (makruh)³ Makruh (discouraged, but not sinful) refers to that which the one who refrains from it is praised, while the one who does it is not condemned. This definition reflects the concept of makruh in Islamic jurisprudence, which denotes an act that is discouraged but not sinful. Avoiding such acts is rewarded but performing them does not incur punishment. her attendance in the collective prayers due to the possibility of fitna.

These represent the principal opinions of the classical jurists of the Sunni schools, most of which affirm the permissibility of women’s attendance at congregational prayers in line with the traditions of the Prophet Muḥammad. The opposing views, which regarded such attendance as discouraged, largely stemmed from the particular social circumstances in which those jurists lived. The following section examines how these divergent interpretations have influenced the Taliban authorities in formulating their position on women’s right to participate in communal prayers.

The Taliban Position Regarding Women’s right to Congregational prayers

The Taliban authorities have applied a restricted policy toward women’s right to congregational prayers. They have imposed restrictions on women, preventing them from attending communal prayers in mosques. They prevent all women, regardless of their age, from attending any congregational prayers at any time. The Taliban’s morality police have banned women from attending mosques in Kandahar and Herat, expelling them during prayers and stationing guards to block their entry, particularly during Ramadan. These restrictions, condemned by local families as discriminatory, contradict the Taliban’s claims of respecting women’s rights under Islamic law and reflect their ongoing tightening of controls over women in Afghanistan. In this regard, inquiries were directed to Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Taliban government, who stated that he would collect information on the matter and provide it to the media; however, no clarification has since been issued by the Taliban authorities. Through a deeper investigation, it becomes visible that the theoretical foundation for this kind of policy is rooted in the Taliban leadership literature, particularly the book authored by Shaykh Abdul Hakim Haqqani, the chief justice of the Taliban government and a co-founder of the Taliban movement.

Analyses of Shaykh Hanaqqani’s Argument Banning Women from Communal Prayer

Shaykh Abdul Hakim Haqqani sets himself apart from other Taliban leaders through his extensive religious scholarly work. He is the only person in the entire Taliban movement with a relatively comprehensive list of publications on various topics. One of his essential books is The Islamic Emirate and its System. This book is considered the only official source formally approved by the supreme leader of the Taliban, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada. The book discusses the Taliban’s political theory (Seyasatul Sharaeyyah) and principles of governance. One of the topics that Shaykh Haqqani addresses is the issue of women’s attendance at communal prayers in mosques. In seeking to establish the impermissibility of women’s presence in such religious spaces, he advances the argument by quoting some of the Hanafi scholars’ opinions on the subject. He cites, for instance, al-Haskafi’s⁴ Imam Muhammad Ala-ud-Din Haskafi, a well-known Hanafi jurist and Hadith scholar, was born in Turkey. He is the author of Al-Durr al-Mukhtar Sharh Tanwir al-Absar, commonly referred to as Durr ul-Mukhtar book in Hanafi jurisprudence. The book is actually the commentary of another book by the name of Tanwir al-Absar written by Muhammad bin Abdullah Tamartashi.(1616–1677) view that it is discouraged (makruh) that women, regardless of their age, participate in any collective prayers (al-Jama’ah), such as the Friday and Eid prayers or listening to an imam preach, due to the corruption of the times (Fasad al-Zaman).

He continues by asserting that al-Haskafi’s opinion that women’s prayer attendance is discouraged (makruh) represents the preferred stance (al-mufta bihi) within the Hanafi school of jurisprudence.⁵ The qawl mufti behi (the preferred opinion) is the ruling in Hanafi jurisprudence that is recognized as the practical and authoritative opinion for issuing fatwas and serves as the standard for the actions of muftis and judges. Furthermore, Haqqani highlights the position of Ibn Abidin (1784–1836), who emphasized that al-Haskafi’s view reflects the consensus of later Hanafi scholars (al-Muta’akhirun).⁶The term “al-Muta’akhirun” refers to jurists who came after the intermediate generation (mutawassitun) of Hanafi jurists, typically after the 11th century, like Al-Kasani (author of Bada’i al-Sana’i) and Ibn Abidin al-Shami (1784–1836) the author of Radd al-Muhtar ala al-Durr al-Mukhtar. This group focused on compiling, prioritizing, and issuing practical rulings (qawl mufti bihi). The al-Mutakhkhirun (later scholars) worked on organizing legal issues systematically and practically to address the needs of society. However, Ibn Abidin notes that this perspective does not align with the opinions of Imam Abu Hanifa, or his two prominent students, Imam Abu Yusuf⁷ Ya’qub ibn Ibrahim al-Ansari, known as Imam Abu Yusuf (731–798), was recognized as the second face in the Hanafi school. He was one of the most prominent students of Imam Abu Hanifa and a key figure in the development and dissemination of the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence. He is also famous for being the first person to hold the position of Qadi al-Qudat (Chief Justice) in the Islamic world, during the Abbasid Caliphate. and Imam Muhammad al-Shaibani⁸ Imam Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaibani (749–805) is the third figure in the Hanafi school and was a distinguished Islamic jurist and one of the foremost disciples of Imam Abu Hanifa. Along with Imam Abu Yusuf, he played a critical role in the development and spread of the Hanafi school of thought. He is particularly renowned for his contributions to codifying Islamic jurisprudence and his works, which became foundational references in Islamic law.. Ibn Abidin addresses the controversy among Hanafi scholars about women participating in the mosque’s collective prayers, stating that some scholars thought the viewpoint of later Hanafi scholars (al-Mutakhkhirun) that prevented women from going to mosques contradicted the views of all the founding jurists of the Hanafi school, namely Abu Hanifa and his two disciples. According to the established methodological principles of the Hanafi school, any legal opinion that lacks a basis in the views of the school’s foundational jurists, namely Abū Ḥanīfa, Abū Yūsuf, or Muḥammad al-Shaybānī, is regarded as a personal opinion rather than an authoritative position of the Hanafi school. Shaykh Haqqani also cites the counterargument advanced by the author of al-Nahr, who contends that Imam Abu Ḥanifa’s restriction on elderly women attending mosque prayers during the Ẓuhr (afternoon) and ʿAṣr (late afternoon before sunset) times was contextually grounded in the prevalence of lecherous individuals during those particular hours.

The opinion of Hanafi scholars regarding the prohibition of Muslim women from communal prayers is primarily based on evolving customs and societal traditions. These rulings reflect the dynamic nature of Islamic jurisprudence, wherein the prevailing social norms and cultural contexts of a given time and place shape legal determinations. There is a well-established legal maxim in Islamic law, particularly within the Hanafi school, that states, “The change of rulings due to the change of times and place is not to be denied.” Ali Haidar Afandi, the author of the renowned commentary on Mejelle-i Ahkâm,⁹ Mejallatul Ahkâm al-Adliye was the civil code of the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th and early 20th century. A committee of Hanafi scholars wrote it, and it is the first codification of Sharia law based on the Hanafi school doctrines by an Islamic nation. elaborates on this principle, explaining that the rulings subject to change are those based on customs and traditions. This change occurs because, as times change, people’s needs evolve, leading to changes in customs and traditions. Consequently, when customs and traditions change, the corresponding rulings also change.

Shaykh Haqqani’s position banning women from communal prayer in mosques is based on al-Haskafi’s opinion from the 16th century and built upon customs prevalent during his time, which may have been accurate for his society. But given the distinct historical, cultural, and socio-political contexts, it is methodologically unsound to establish an analogy between a legal opinion from the late 16th century and Afghanistan in the early 21st century. Consequently, the ruling established by al-Haskafi for his specific historical and cultural context cannot be directly applied to contemporary Afghanistan or any other Muslim society, as it fails to account for the distinct social and customary differences that shape legal interpretations over time.

The Hanafi School Legal Theory and Contemporary Muslim Scholars’ Perspective

Hanafi jurists have clarified that the restrictions on women’s participation in congregational prayers are not rooted in the abrogation of the authentic Hadiths that encourage women to attend mosque for congregational prayers; instead, it is based on concerns regarding fitna and the moral corruption of the time. These scholars argue that such limitations were instituted as a precautionary measure to preserve societal order and prevent potential ethical transgressions. The emphasis on fitna reflects a contextual approach to legal rulings, wherein scholars assess the prevailing conditions of their time to determine the necessity of such restrictions. As a result, when the circumstances that initially justified these prohibitions, such as heightened concerns over temptation and moral decline, cease to exist, the restrictions become inapplicable.

The Egyptian Dār al-Iftāʾ contemporary fatwa from the Hanafi scholars’ perspective concerning women’s attendance at communal prayer in the mosques illustrates the approach of taking changing customs and circumstances into account. The ruling acknowledges that while early Hanafi jurists generally deemed it makruh for women to attend communal prayers in mosques, contemporary Hanafi scholars have adopted a permissive stance that aligns more closely with the majority opinion among other legal schools. This shift in legal opinion is rooted in the transformation of social customs (ʿurf) and public behavior. Classical Hanafi jurists justified their restrictive ruling not on the basis of textual prohibition, but rather as a response to the deterioration of public morality and prevailing customs at the time. Despite the presence of authentic prophetic Hadiths permitting women to attend the mosque, the negative sociocultural context led to their discouragement. In contrast, contemporary scholars argue that the current context has undergone significant changes; because of the safety and security provided by the law enforcement departments and the control of the bad citizens, people, especially women, feel safe and participate more actively in public life, including mosque attendance. This engagement may also be deemed necessary in some cases, for instance, when a woman seeks to acquire essential religious knowledge that is best obtained within the mosque environment. Furthermore, contemporary scholars from Hanafi and other Sunni schools also believe that women should participate in communal prayers freely.           

Conclusion

The right of women to participate in communal worship is a well-established principle in primary Islamic law sources, and it is explicitly confirmed in the Prophet Muhammad’s Sunnah. This practice was widely followed by the Prophet’s Companions and their families. Most Sunni jurists, including those from the Hanafi school, have regarded women’s attendance at congregational prayer as permissible. The only exception involved young women and was due to specific historical circumstances that exposed them to harassment by lechers on the route to the mosque. However, Taliban leaders have generalized this exemption and banned all women, without exception, from attending communal prayers in mosques.

Considering the legal maxim of Islamic jurisprudence that legal opinions (fatwas) evolve with changes in time, place, and circumstances, contemporary Hanafi jurists have declared that women’s presence at mosques is allowable and that forbidding them from participating in congregational prayer contradicts Islamic teachings and obvious prophetic traditions. Therefore, it is evident that women possess the right to participate in communal prayer without restriction, and their exclusion from mosques cannot be substantiated within the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. Instead, the prohibition of women’s participation in congregational prayers appears to derive primarily from the prevailing sociocultural norms of Afghan society as interpreted and enforced by the ruling authorities.♦

---

Funding from grant number 315063 from the Research Council of Norway for this research is gratefully acknowledged.

---

---

Recommended Citation

Saeed, Lutforahman. “Freedom of Communal Prayer in the Primary sources of Islamic law and under the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.” Canopy Forum, September 9, 2025. https://canopyforum.org/2025/09/19/freedom-of-communal-prayer-in-the-primary-sources-of-islamic-law-and-under-the-taliban-ruled-afghanistan/.

Recent Posts