Is it better for woman to go out to the Eid prayers or to stay at home? 

Question : 

I know that it is better for women to pray at home, but my question has to do with the Eid prayer. Is it better for women to go out to the Eid prayer or to stay at home?. 

Answer : 

Praise be to Allaah. 

It is better for women to go out to the Eid prayer. This was enjoined by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). 

Al-Bukhaari (324) and Muslim (890) narrated that Umm ‘Atiyyah (may Allaah be pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) commanded us to bring them (women) out on (Eid) al-Fitr and (Eid) al-Adha, and to bring out adolescent girls, menstruating women and virgins, but the menstruating women were to stay away from the prayer, but were to witness goodness and the gathering of the Muslims. I said: “O Messenger of Allaah, what if one of us does not have a jilbaab?” He said: “Let her sister lend her a jilbab.” 

Al-Haafiz said: 

This shows that it is mustahabb for women to come out and attend the Eid prayers, whether they are young or not. 

Al-Shawkaani said: 

This and similar hadeeths indicate that it is prescribed in sharee’ah for women to come out to the prayer-place, with no differentiation between virgins and non-virgins, young or old, menstruating or otherwise, so long as they are not going through ‘iddah (following divorce or death of their husband) or their coming out will be a cause of fitnah or they have an excuse. 

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen was asked: what is better for a woman, to come out to the Eid prayer or to stay at home? 

He replied: 

It is better for them to go out to Eid prayer, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) enjoined that the women go out to the Eid prayer, even the adolescent girls and virgins – i.e., women who do not ordinarily go out. He commanded them to go out, and he told the menstruating women to go out but to keep away from the prayer-place. So menstruating women should go out with other women for Eid, but they should not enter the place where the Eid prayer is offered, because the Eid prayer-place is a mosque and it is not permissible for a menstruating woman to stay there, but it is permissible for her to pass through or to take something she needs from it, without staying there. Based on this we say: women are commanded to go out to the Eid prayer and join the men in this prayer, because of the goodness, dhikr and du’aa’ they may experience there. 

Majmoo’ Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 16/210. 

He also said: 

But they must go out looking decent, not wearing adornment, makeup or perfume, so that they may combine following the Sunnah with avoiding fitnah. 

What some women do of wearing adornment, makeup and perfume is because of their ignorance and negligence on the part of their guardians. This does not cancel out the general shar’i ruling, which is that women are commanded to go out to the Eid prayer. 

Islam Q&A (www.islam-qa.com) 



Question : 


Why Women are not allowed for EID's Namaz in Masjid?

Answer : 

Praise be to Allaah. 

Whoever says that women should not pray Eid in the mosque should note that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) commanded women to go out to the Eid prayers. It was narrated that Umm ‘Atiyyah said: “We were commanded to go out on the day of Eid, even to bring out the virgins from their seclusion and the menstruating women, who would be behind the people, joining in their takbeer and du’aa’s, sharing the blessings of this day.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, al-Jumu’ah, 918) 

But if a woman is menstruating she should keep away from the prayer place and not enter it, but she should witness the good and the du’aa’ of the Muslims, and listen to the khutbah from outside the prayer place. A woman should avoid wearing adornments and go out wearing old clothes which do not form any kind of adornment in themselves, so that she will not be a source of temptation to men. She should not go out wearing perfume. ‘Abd-Allaah ibn al-Mubaarak said, “If a woman insists on going out, then her husband should give her permission to go out wearing old clothes and not wearing adornments. If she insists on that then the husband has the right to prevent her from going out.” And Allaah knows best. 



Islam Q&A 
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid (www.islam-qa.com)