Prayer TimesThere are certain differences between the way men and women perform the prayer. These differences are based on some narrations and the practices of the Companions. The points where women differ from men in prayer are as follows:
a) Men who pray alone recite the adhan and the iqamah. Women, however, do not recite the adhan or the iqamah.
b) It is sunnah to raise the hands when saying the opening takbir. Men raise their hands so that their thumbs touch their earlobes. Women, on the other hand, raise their hands only to the level of their shoulders, with the fingertips in line with the shoulders.
c) In prayer, men place their hands below the navel, with the right hand grasping the left wrist. Women place their hands on their chest, with the right hand over the left, without forming a ring with the fingers.
d) When bowing (ruku'), men keep their knees straight and their backs flat. Women do not keep their backs as flat as men; they keep them slightly inclined.
e) In prostration (sujud), men keep their arms and thighs away from their abdomen and do not let their arms touch the ground. Women, however, keep their abdomen close to their thighs and their arms close to their sides during prostration.
f) When sitting for tashahhud and between prostrations, men sit on their left foot with their right foot upright, toes pointing toward the qibla. Women sit with their feet inclined to the right side, resting on the ground.
(Serahsî, el-Mebsût, 1/25; Merğinânî, el-Hidâye, 1/337; Ibn Nujaym, al-Bahr, 1/320; Ibn Qudamah, al-Mughni, 2/225-226).
Source: T.C. Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı, Din İşleri Yüksek Kurulu
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