PRAYER SECTION · 62 – WOMEN LEADING PRAYERS:
Nevfel bint Warqa (may Allah be pleased with her) related:
When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him) prepared to go out for the battle of Badr, I said to him, "O Messenger of Allah, allow me not to accompany you in battle so that I may care for the sick. I hope that Allah will provide me with martyrdom." The Prophet (peace and blessings upon him) said, “Remain at home. Surely Allah will provide you with martyrdom.”
‘Abd ar-Rahman says: This woman was called a martyr. She had also learned the Qur’an. She asked permission from the Messenger of Allah to have a muezzin in her house. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him) gave her permission. She had appointed a slave and a female slave as managers [of her household]. One night, these two rose up and, with her own silk cloth, suffocated her and fled. Umar ibn al-Khattab addressed the people in public the following morning, saying, “Let whoever has knowledge of this or saw them bring them forth immediately.” (They were captured) and he ordered that they be crucified. They were the first to be crucified in Medina.
EXPLANATION
*Mudebbir*, *Mudebbira*: The master who has slaves and female slaves; [it refers to] when he says to his slave, "You will serve me until I die," and after his death, "You are free." This is the name given to manumitting with such a condition.
Ummü Warqa had married off her slave and female slave, saying, “Serve me until I die; after my death, you are free.” In order to hasten the day of their emancipation, they suffocated Ummü Warqa and were then executed for retaliation [qisas].
592 – From Abdullah bin Haris, may Allah be pleased with him; this hadith is narrated from Umm Varaka, the daughter of Abdullah bin al-Kays, and it completes the previous narration. Abdurrahman bin Hallad says: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, would visit Umm Varaka in her home, appoint a mu'adhdhin (caller to prayer) for her, and command her to lead the prayers of her household. Again, Abdurrahman says: I myself saw that woman’s mu'adhdhin; he was an elderly man.
EXPLANATION: This hadith indicates that a woman can lead the prayers of the women in her household. If a woman leads women in prayer, she stands in the middle of the first row, with her feet slightly ahead of the feet of the congregation. It is reported that Umm Varaka’s congregation included an elderly man who performed the duty of mu'adhdhin. This was a situation specific to Umm Varaka.