Mirch
March 5, 2010, 2:51pm
95
Mirch, there should be no partition (physical) up between a man and a woman’s section, necessarily. You can have one jamaat right behind the other. Only reason for a partition would be if they’ve divided up the space so that there is a male and female jamaat portion praying alongside each other. Like we have that. Instead of sectioning off the entire end of one masjid, we have 1/4 set aside for us, because otherwise if we were entirely behind the men, we would be blocking the entrance. The entrance is where the back of the jamaat is located. So, we actually pray alongside the other 1/4 of the jamaat, which is male, alongside us. so there is a partition between us for that reason, to avoid 2 people of opposite genders brushing shoulders.
Otherwise, no need for a partition. She is right, you guys should draw down the curtain. It is more of an arab tradition, than an Islamic requirement. No text will say it is required to have a physical wall between the jamaats. No such thing at all.
I know that and agree with you on that one. I have read many many ahadees as to how it was done in prophet(SAW) times.
She did not want to be standing behind men. 