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If a woman goes to the mosque to pray Taraweeh or any obligatory prayer, will she have the same reward as a man and the reward for praying in congregation, or is this reward for men only? Please note that she goes wearing complete shar’i hijab.
Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
A woman's prayer in her house, even if it is offered alone, is better and brings a greater reward than her prayer in the mosque, even if it is offered in congregation. This is indicated by many hadiths from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him).
It says in al-Mawsoo’ah al-Fiqhiyyah (8/231):
The fuqaha’ are unanimously agreed that a man's prayer in the mosque in congregation is better than his praying alone in his house, because of the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Prayer in congregation is twenty-five times better than the prayer of one of you on his own.” According to another report: “twenty-seven times better.” Agreed upon.
But with regard to women, their prayer offered at home is better, because of the marfoo’ hadith of Umm Salamah: “The best places of prayer for women are the innermost parts of their houses.” Narrated by Ahmad in al-Musnad, 6/297; classed as hasan by the editors of al-Musnad. End quote.
See also the answer to question number 90071.
With regard to the virtue of praying in congregation in the mosque, this is only for men, because they are the ones who are commanded to go out to it, except for the Eid prayer, the reward of which is multiplied for women too, because they are commanded to go out to it. Hence Ibn Daqeeq al-‘Eid said:
As women are encouraged to go out to the mosque, they should be equal with men (in reward) because the fact that men are mentioned with regard to the reward for actions is does not mean that the reward is limited to them in sharee’ah. End quote.
Ihkaam al-Ahkaam Sharh ‘Umdat al-Ahkaam, 1/193
Al-Haafiz Ibn Rajab (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
In the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) which was narrated by al-Bukhari, it says: “(The reward for) the prayer of a man offered in congregation is multiplied.” This indicates that the reward for a woman’s prayer offered in congregation is not multiplied, because her prayer in her house is better for her. End quote.
Fath al-Bari, 4/34.
Something similar was said by al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar in his commentary on the hadith of the seven whom Allah will shade with His shade on the Day when there will be no shade but His, among whom is “a man whose heart was attached to the mosques.” Al-Haafiz was of the view that this applies only to men, because a woman's prayer offered in her house is better than in the mosque.
Fath al-Bari, 2/147.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
The multiplied reward which is attained by praying in congregation applies only to men, because they are the ones who are called to it in the sense of it being obligatory. Hence the wording of the hadith is: “(the reward) for a man praying in congregation is twenty-five times greater than (the reward) for his praying in his house or in the marketplace.”
Based on this, women do not attain this reward; indeed the scholars differed with regard to whether it is prescribed for women to pray in congregation separately from the men in their houses or in schools. Some of them said that it is Sunnah for them to pray in congregation; others said that it is permissible for them to pray in congregation; and some said that it is makrooh for them to pray in congregation. End quote.
See the answer to question number 12093.
And Allah knows best.