and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “The best rows for men are the first, and the worst are the last; the best rows for women are the last, and the worst are the first.” He also said, “Women, do not raise your heads until the men have raised theirs,” because the men’s waist-wraps were small. After concluding the prayer with the salutation, he and the men would remain for a short while so that the women could leave first, thus preventing men and women from mingling.

Likewise, on the day of Eid, the women would pray in a separate area. After completing the prayer, he would address the men, then go and address the women, exhorting them and urging them to give charity, as is established in the Sahīh. ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb said—and some narrators trace this statement back to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace—concerning one of the mosque’s gates, which I think was the eastern gate, “If only we reserved this gate for women.” Thereafter, ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Umar never entered through it until his death.

The Sunan collections report that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to the women, “Do not walk in the middle of