Mālik, on the other hand, placed women and men on the same footing: both, he held, should signal by saying tasbīḥ, and he forbade clapping for either sex. He based this on the general wording of the ḥadith of Sahl ibn Saʿd, “If something happens to a person in his prayer, let him say tasbīḥ,” reported by al-Bukhārī (1234) and Muslim (421). In his view the wording is all-inclusive, applying equally to men and women, whereas the Prophet’s statement, “Clapping is only for women,” was, according to him, a form of censure.

The majority reply that such interpretations cannot override clear, sound texts. Al-Bukhārī (1234) records: “If something happens during the prayer, let the men say tasbīḥ and the women clap.” When Ibn al-Walī cited Mālik’s position he said, “It is unsound,” and the Mālikī scholar al-Qurṭubī affirmed, “The view of the majority is the correct one, both by transmitted evidence and by reason.”