Question Summary:
Why is there a difference between the Salāh of a man and that of a woman? When should we read Tasmiyah in Wudhu?

Question Detail:

Assalāmua'laikum. I'm a new user. My first question: Why are people performing Salāt in different methods and why is there a difference between men and women? My second question: During the ablution (Wudhu) we should read the duā or after we finish we should read the duā: 'Bismillāhil Aliyyul Azīm'?

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
1.   In some acts of worship, including Salāh, the Shari'ah has ordained the method of performing these acts for a woman different from that of men. It is not necessary that we understand the underlying reason of every law of Shari‘ah for it to be worth following. Some laws are such that we are unable to understand the reason of them being as they are. If a rational justification existed for all laws, this would negate one of the basic purposes for which we have been sent into this world, which is Ibtilā' (to test the level of our submission to Allāh Ta‘ālā). Just as we accept that we are obligated to perform five daily Salāh, without questioning the rationale behind the specific number 'five', we should be willing to submit to every other law established in Shari‘ah without questioning its conformance to our logic.
Nevertheless, in many laws of Shari‘ah, those who had knowledge of the true factors governing those laws have expounded on these factors. In other laws for which no rational justification was apparent, they have set forth the wisdom behind such laws.
In light of the above-mentioned:
The method of the Salāh of a woman is explained in Ahādīth differently to that of a man's Salāh. We simply submit to that and do not measure it with our logic.
 
«يَا وَائِلُ بْنَ حُجْرٍ، إِذَا صَلَّيْتَ فَاجْعَلْ يَدَيْكَ حِذَاءَ أُذُنَيْكَ، وَالْمَرْأَةُ تَجْعَلُ يَدَيْهَا حِذَاءَ ثَدْيَيْهَا« رَوَاهُ الطَّبَرَانِيُّ فِي الْمُعْجَمِ الْكَبِيْرِ
(At the end of a narration, Wāil ibn Hujr says that Rasulullāh [Sallallāhu ‘Alaihi Wa Sallam] told him:) "Oh ibn Hujr, when you perform Salāh, place your hands in line with your ears (when making Takbīr), and a woman places her hands in line with her bosom (when making Takbīr)." [al-Mu‘jam al-Kabīr of al-Tabarāni: V. 22, p. 19]
 
عَنْ عَبْدِ رَبِّهِ بْنِ سُلَيْمَانَ بْنِ عُمَيْرٍ قَالَ: «رَأَيْتُ أُمَّ الدَّرْدَاءِ تَرْفَعُ يَدَيْهَا فِي الصَّلَاةِ حَذْوَ مَنْكِبَيْهَا» رَوَاهُ الْبُخَارِيُّ فِيْ قُرَّةِ الْعَيْنَيْنِ بِرَفْعِ الْيَدَيْنِ فِي الصَّلَاةِ
Narrated from ‘Abdi Rabbihī ibn Sulaimān, he says: "I seen Umm Dardā' Radi Allāhu ‘anhā raising her hands in Salāh in line with her shoulders (when making Takbīr) [Qurrah al-‘Ainain bi Raf‘ al-Yadain of al-Bukhāri: Hadīth no. 23]
 
عَنْ يَزِيدَ بْنِ أَبِي حَبِيبٍ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مَرَّ عَلَى امْرَأَتَيْنِ تُصَلِّيَانِ فَقَالَ: «إِذَا سَجَدْتُمَا فَضُمَّا بَعْضَ اللَّحْمِ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ فَإِنَّ الْمَرْأَةَ لَيْسَتْ فِي ذَلِكَ كَالرَّجُلِ« رَوَاهُ أَبُوْ دَاوُدَ فِيْ مَرَاسِيْلِهِ وَالْبَيْهَقِيُّ
Yazīd ibn Abī Habīb narrates that Rasulullah Sallallāhu Alaihi Wa Sallam passed by two women praying Salāh. Thus, he said (to them): "When you prostrate then keep part of your bulk (i.e. main flesh of the body) attached to the ground because a woman is not like a men in that (i.e. in the method of prostration)" [al-Marāsīl of Abū Dāwūd: p. 117; al-Sunan al-Kubrā of al-Baihaqī: Hadīth no. 3201]
 
عَنْ عَلِيٍّ قَالَ: «إِذَا سَجَدَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ فَلْتَحْتَفِزْ، وَلْتُلْصِقْ فَخِذَيْهَا بِبَطْنِهَا»[1] رَوَاهُ عَبْدُ الرَّزَّاقِ فِيْ مُصَنَّفِهِ
It is reported from ‘Ali Radi Allāhu ‘anhu that he said: "When a woman prostrates, then she should draw her body together and she should bond her thighs with her stomach." [al-Musannaf of ‘Abdurrazzāq: Hadīth no. 5072]
 
Secondly, the scholars have mentioned the underlying reason for the difference between a woman's Salāh and a man's Salāh:
وَلِأَنَّ مَبْنَى حَالِهَا عَلَى السِّتْرِ فَمَا يَكُونُ أَسْتَرَ لَهَا فَهُوَ أَوْلَى[2]
"(A woman maintaining a restricted posturing in Salāh is) also because her state is structured on concealment. Hence, that which is more concealing for her is better." [Al-Mabsūt al-Sarakhsi: V.1 p.23]
 
2.   It is Sunnah to read Tasmiyah (i.e. take the name of Allah) before beginning Wudhu, and it is Mustahab (commendable) to read it before washing each limb.[3]
 
The duā: «بِاسْمِ اللهِ الْعَلِيِّ الْعَظِيْمِ» is a Tasmiyah, however, it would be better to read the Tasmiyah in the following words specifically before Wudhu: «بِاسْمِ اللَّهِ، وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ».
 
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Maulana Mahmood Patel
Azaadville, South Africa
Student Darul Iftaa
 
Checked and Approved by
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
www.daruliftaa.net