clap in the prayer whenever an unforeseen matter arises—among them the imam’s forgetfulness—because a woman’s voice may prove tempting to men; accordingly, she is to clap and not speak.

When the imam concludes the prayer with the salām, the women should hasten to leave the mosque while the men remain seated, so that the men do not overtake any woman who is departing. Umm Salamah reported: “When the women finished their salutation in the prescribed prayer they would rise, while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ remained seated, as did the men who had prayed with him for as long as Allah willed. Once the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood up, the men then stood.” Al-Zuhrī commented, “We think—Allah knows best—that this was done so the women who were leaving could depart first.” Al-Bukhārī recorded the report; see al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr 1/422.

Imam al-Shawkānī said in Nayl al-Awṭār (2/326): “The hadith shows that the imam is recommended to take account of the condition of his congregation, to exercise caution in avoiding whatever may lead to the forbidden, to keep away from situations that arouse suspicion, and to dislike the mingling of men and women in thoroughfares—let alone in homes.” End quote.

Imam al-Nawawī, may Allah have mercy on him, said in al-Majmūʿ (3/455): “Women differ from men in the congregational prayer in several matters: first, attending it is not as emphatically prescribed for them as it is for men; second, when a woman leads other women in prayer she should stand in the middle of their row.”