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Can a Woman Lead Boys in Prayer?

Imām Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn

A fatwà on the impermissibility of women leading boys in prayer backed by aḥadīth.

First Published: June 30, 2026
Last Updated: June 30, 2026

Can a Woman Lead Boys in Prayer?

Imām Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn

A fatwà on the impermissibility of women leading boys in prayer backed by aḥadīth.

Published: June 30, 2026
Updated: June 30, 2026

Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn said:

The correct opinion on this issue is that it is impermissible for a woman to lead any man in ṣalāh regardless of whether those males are young or fully grown as in the ḥadīth: “A people whose affairs are ruled by a woman shall never find prosperity.”[1] In consideration of this, any woman desiring to pray in congregation with a prepubescent boy should make him her imām and pray behind him. This is because it is perfectly permissible for a prepubescent boy to lead others in the performance of obligatory (farḍ) ṣalāh as authentically reported in the ḥadīth of ʿAmr ibn Salamah al-Jarmī (رضي الله عنه) who related that his father said: “I have come from the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) in truth” — as his father was among the ambassadors that visited the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) in the ninth of year of hijrah — “and I heard him (صلى الله عليه وسلم) say: “If the time for ṣalāh arrives, then command someone among you to call the adhān and command the one who has memorised the greatest proportion of the Qurʾān to lead the congregation”[2]. This may be used to evidence the fact that a prepubescent boy may validly lead a congregation in ṣalāh.[3]

Endnotes:
[1] Authentic: narrated by al-Bukhārī: 6686.
[2]
Authentic: narrated by al-Bukhārī: 4302.
[3]
Majmūʿ Fatāwá wa Rasāʾil al-ʿUthaymīn 15:146-147.

Translated by: Riyāḍ al-Kanadī

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