This was brought up recently on a different thread, and it reminded of this fatwa I read (very thorough and detailed masha'Allah) by Maulana A.S. Desai. Insha'Allah, hope it will be of some benefit, as many people do make this mistake.
Question:
Please explain the issue the of Muhaathaat and does it entail that we repeat each Fardh prayer we pray at the Haraam Sharif?
Answer:
Muhaathaat means to be mutually opposite-the one directly opposite the other. In the Shariah it refers to women standing alongside men in the same saff of Salaat, or in front of the men. According to the Hanafi Math-hab, the act of Muhaathaat has a serious effect on Salaat. If the conditions for the validity of Muhaathaat are found, the Salaat of the man becomes faasid (i.e. is invalidated).
CONDITIONS
The following are the conditions for the validity of Muhaathaat:
1) The female has to be an adult (baalighah) or near to buloogh (muraahiqah).
2) Both the men and women are performingthe same Salaat.
3) The Imaam makes the niyyat (intention) of imaamate of the women, i.e. he intends that he is their Imaam in the Salaat they have joined in.
4) The Imaam makes this niyyat from the very beginning of the Salaat, not afterwards.
5) There is no barrier between the men and the women. The minimum height of the barrier should be the height of an average male.
6) There is no gap between the man and the woman standing in the saff. The gap is not so wide that a man can stand in it.
7) At least the leg or the ankle of the woman is in line with the man standing alongside in the saff.
The effect of Muhaathaat (standing alongside men) is the fasaad (invalidation) of the Salaat of the males when the abovementioned conditions exist. In the absence of any of these conditions, Muhaathaat will have no effect. For example, if the Imaam does not make intention of imaamate of the women, then even if the female stands alongside a man in the saff, the Salaat of the man will be valid. This should not be construed to mean that it is permissible for a woman to stand in the saff of men. In fact, it is not permissible for females to even go to the Musjid. Furthermore, if the Imaam does not make intention for being the Imaam of the women, then the Salaat of the females will not be valid.
If a woman stands in the saff, but between her and the men alongside her there is a gap sufficient to accommodate a man, then the rule ofMuhaathaat will not apply. The Salaat of the men will be valid. If the woman who stands in the saff is not directly in line with the men alongside her -her toes being just behind the heels of the men in the saff-then the rule of Muhaathaat will not apply. The Salaat of the men is valid. If there is a pillar between the men and the woman in the saff, the mas'alah of Muhaathaat will not apply. If the woman standing in the saff is performing her own Salaat, and is not following the Imaam, the rule of Muhaathaat will not apply.
APPLICATION OF MUHAATHAAT
1) If one woman is in the saff of the men and all the conditions of validity are found, then the Salaat of one man on each side as well as the Salaat of the man directly behind her in the first saff (i.e. first saff behind her) will become invalid.
2) If two women are in the saff (i.e. they are standing together) in the saff of the men, the Salaat of one man on each side (left and right) and the Salaat of two men directly behind them will be invalid.
3) If there are three or more women standing together in the saff, the same rule as mentioned in (1) and (2) will apply, viz., on either side of the women the Salaat of one man will become faasid (invalid). In addition, the Salaat of all the men standing directly behind them in every saff until the end of all the saffs, will become faasid.. In this case, the fasaad (corruption /invalidation) is not limited to only the men directly behind in the first saff. The fasaad affects all the men directly behind (i.e. vertically) in every saff right until the last saff.
In some quarters it has been argued that due to 'harj' (difficulty), the fasaad should be limited to three saffs behind the women. This view has no substantiation in the Shariah. It is not the view of any of the Fuqaha. It is a baseless figment of someone's personal opinion. It has absolutely no validity.
THE POSITION OF THE SALAAT OF MEN IN THE HARAM SHAREEF
The situation in the Haramain Shareefain is chaotic. The intermingling of women with men and standing in the same saff as the men present a real dilemma. The authorities who are all modernists have extremely little concern for the Deen, hence they cannot be bothered with measures to curb the evil of intermingling of sexes in Islam's holiest places. Even if there are women standing in the saffs ahead of the males, those directly behind them way back, have no means of ascertaining this. one enters the Haram and falls into the saff. on all sides and infront there are men. However, it is possible that five or ten rows ahead there may be some women in the saff. This remains unknown to the men standing behind the women in the more than 100 rows behind them.
Even if there are women standing just three or four saffs ahead, it is difficult and even impossible to detect them. No one stretches his neck like an ostrich to scan the mass of souls infront of him when he stands ready to begin the Salaat behind the Imaam. He joins in when the Iqaamah is recited and he is engrossed with his endeavour to get into a saff which is in fact a trial and a task in the Haram because it entails constant walking to fill in the gaps infront which develop repeatedly. Too much Jahaalat prevails. In the Haram, one simply has to look down, join the Salaat and rely fully on the Rahmat of Allah Ta'ala. If one's Salaat has becomefaasid as a consequence of valid Muhaathaat, one will not have knowledge of this fact. It is therefore best to repeat one's Salaat as a precautionary measure.
MATH-HABS
According to the other three Math-habs besides the Hanafi Mathhab, the mas'alah of Muhaathaat has no application. Niyyat of the imamate of women is also not a requirement according to the three Math-habs (Maaliki, Shaafi and Hambali). Therefore, the Imaams in Makkah and Madinah do not make intention of being the imaam of the women following in the Jamaat Salaat. Since the niyyat of the Imaam to be the imaam of the women is an essential condition for the validity of Muhaathaat, this rule will not apply, and it will have no effect on the Salaat of the men. Their Salaat remains valid. However, the Salaat of the Hanafi women performing behind the Imaams of the Haramain Shareefain will not be valid.
Therefore, women who are followers of the Hanafi Math-hab should incumbently perform Salaat wherever they are living. If circumstances constrained their presence in the Haram Shareef and due to the crowd they are unable to leave and reach their rooms in time for Salaat, then they should perform Salaat alone in the Haram Shareef. They should not join the Jamaat. If they happen to join the Jamaat, they should repeat their Salaat as soon as possible to avoid it becoming Qadha.
THE ATTITUDE OF THE IMAAMS
Senior and reliable Ulama of Pakistan and elsewhere had ascertained from the Muftis and Imaams of the Haram Shareef that they do not make niyyat of Imaamate for the women since this is not a requirement of their Math-hab. They generally follow the Fiqh of Imaam Ahmad Bin Hambal (rahmatullah alayh). In fact, the late Shaikh Bin Baaz (rahmatullah alayh) had issued a written fatwa in response to a senior Mufti of Pakistan clarifying that there is no need for such a niyyat. Furthermore, the Imaams of Makkah and Madinah are not in the mood to accommodate the followers of the Hanafi Math-hab even if such accommodation is allowed by their Math-hab. This is conspicuous during the month of Ramadhaan when Witr Salaat is performed in Jamaat during the second half of Ramadhaan. Inspite of the fact that it is not Waajib for either the Shaafis or the Hambalis to terminate Witr first after two raka'ts, then performing one raka't separately, they are averse to accommodate Hanafis by performing three raka'ts Witr in one session notwithstanding the fact that three raka'ts with one Salaam is permissible according to their Math-hab.
HARJ?
Harj means difficulty. Some Molwis nowadays argue that due to harj, the mas'alah of Muhaathaat should be discarded. These misguided molwis are the followers of the inordinate dictates of their nafs. Salaat is the most important and most vital act of Ibaadat. It is not a practice which may be subjected to the wildly fluctuating vagaries of man's incorrigibly evil nafs. The argument of harj introduced in the domain of Salaat is both stupid and shaitaani. There is absolutely no difficulty in the application of this Shar'i mas'alah of Muhaathaat. Either the Imaam makes niyyat for the women or he does not. In the absence of a categoric assurance of Imaamate by the Imaams of the Haram Shareef, it has to be accepted that they simply do not make niyyat of Imaamate for the females since this is the ruling of their Math-hab, and they are well aware of the Hanafi position. As such, Muhaathaat will have no effect. The Salaat of the men will be valid while that of the females (Hanafi) will be invalid.
NIYYAT
If it is ascertained that they do make niyyat of Imaamate (which is extremely remote), then the Salaat of the males will not be valid ifMuhaathaat with its Shuroot (conditions) exist. In such an event, the men will simply have to repeat their Salaat if they had joined the Jamaat. Repeating the Salaat is not harj, especially for those who spend tens of thousands of rands to go on the Trip of Ibaadat.
THE RULING FOR THE PRESENT TIME
(1) In view of the fact that the Imaams of the Haram are not required to make niyyat of Imaamate for women, and also on account of their strong disinclination to appease the followers of the Hanafi Math-hab even when allowed by their Mathhab, it has to be necessarily accepted that they do not make niyyat. The Salaat of the men is therefore valid because Muhaathaat has no effect in the absence of the Imaam's niyyat of being the Imaam of the women.
(2) The Salaat of the Hanafi females in Jamaat is not valid in both Harams (Makkah and Madinah) due to the absence of the Imaam's niyyat. Women are required by the Shariah to perform their Salaat in their rooms, not in the Musaajid, not even in the Haramain Shareefain.
INTERMINGLING
Undoubtedly, the intermingling of men and women is unlawful and constitutes a Kabeerah (major) sin. It poses a serious dilemma and causes a headache for concerned people. Nevertheless, inspite of the crowds, a concerned man can manoeuvre himself in such a way as to avoid standing alongside and behind women who have unlawfully invaded the saff. There are also innumerable pillars which serve the purpose of barriers to nullify the effect of Muhaathaat, in the highly unlikely event of the Imaams making niyyat of the Imaamate of women.
During the Hajj, there is no greater difficulty than the act of Rami Jamraat (Pelting the Pillars). But everyone overcomes this real difficulty. A fatwa cannot be issued to abolish Rami on the basis of harj despite the real existence of harj in relation to this ritual. The harjargument is a figment of the imagination of those who lack understanding of the importance and significance of the acts of Ibaadat.
There is real harj in performing Tawaaf-e-Ziyaarat, in spending the nights at Mina, at Muzdalifah, and in just about all the acts of Hajj due to the huge crowds, apathy of the Saudi authorities and their inability to maintain order. They simply have no systems., hence the Hajj becomes unmanageable which leads to the stampedes of ignorance at the Jamaraat sites.
TAQWA
The issue of Muhaathaat is of no concern to the majority of people present in the Haram Shareef. Firstly, this question has no relevance for Maaliki, Shaafi and Hambali followers. Regarding Hanafis, most are careless and unconcerned about their acts of ibaadat. An issue such as Muhaathaat is of no significance to them. The very few who are concerned with this mas'alah, can not always establish whetherMuhaathaat is actually taking place or not. Several factors preclude awareness of this fact. For those who follow the path of Taqwa, the best course is to repeat their Fardh Salaat. Besides this precautionary option, no other course is available.
